Pipe and a pancake?

A friend told me that by the time a baby is 15 months, she should have about 25 words at her command. MZ is well on her way. She piped up with agua a few days ago (which we used from the start because it's easier than water), and over the weekend she started saying hat.

Her dad's been laid low with the wisdom teeth thing, and has been curled up in bed with a hat on. He wore it pulled down over his eyes, and evidently MZ liked the look, because she's been taking his hat from his head and wearing it the same way. Yesterday, she crawled into our room and up to R's bed table, mumbling hat, hat, hat. She grabbed it and put it on her head, slouched over one eye. Later, while we were out and about, she had her hoody pulled down over her eyes and I moved it up. She looked right at me and pulled it down again. Damn it feels good to be a gansta.

She follows Moki roaring Meow at him, and when he bolts from her apparent insanity, she continues to crawl around the room meow-ing. Is she playing cat? Is she actually old enough to imitate? How did she become such a little person so quickly? I suppose it's just a step away from repeating words, but it's hard to believe that we as parents (and pets, apparently) are truly modeling behaviour already. She was just a little larvae a few months ago, and now she's crawling around imitating our words and actions. It's both exciting and humbling, and like any parent, there are some traits I just don't want her to get from me.

I'm happy to find that although she may be cautious and deliberate, she's not chicken like her mom. Yes, I mountain bike and ski, but I've never fully embraced "speed is your friend." I am a hiker on a bike, I have almost no adrenaline addiction whatsoever. Not MZ. She's becoming a speed demon, she has no fear, whether on the slide at the park or in her walker wagon-cum-go-cart. She craves speed, the faster she goes, the wider her smile.

Now I must keep from squelching that with my own caution. As a parent, I must hang back and let her fly, hiding my wringing hands behind my back while yelling, "Go girl go!" as loud as I can. It's only going to get scarier from here.