It’s official — Ana is smarter than me. I suspected as much, and this past week has proven it. Four particular instances stick out in my mind…

One morning, after getting only two hours of sleep the night before, I was getting ready to bathe Emma. Ana was helping by taking every single towel and washcloth out of the cabinet and throwing them on the floor. (Not so helpful, actually.) I had my hands full with Emma, who was crying, and not even thinking that she wouldn’t understand or that — hello! — she’s just ONE, I said, “Ana, will you get me Emma’s pacifier?” Ana stood up, walked over to the pacifier, picked it up, and handed it to me. It didn’t hit me until a few minutes later that she had understood me! I put Emma in her bouncy chair, gave the pacifier back to Ana, and here’s what she did…

I think Mommy’s job just got a whole lot easier, don’t you?

The second instance happened in the living room, where everything I was doing to soothe Emma was proving futile. Ana was playing in the floor near us, and I said, “Ana, why is Emma crying?” Not that I was expecting an answer, of course. Just trying to stay involved with them both at the same time. Ana, however, had an answer. She picked up her Cabbage Patch Kid, turned her over, and started patting her back. Yes, she was burping the baby! I did likewise with Emma, who calmed down immediately. Ana just smiled at me and went back to playing with her toys, as if to say, “No need to thank me!”

On another day, Ana brought one of her sandals to me. I asked her, “Do you want to wear this?” She sat down so that I could put it on her. I reached for her left foot, and she raised her right foot. I looked at the sandal, and sure enough, it was a right foot sandal. Hmm… (She spent the rest of the evening walking around in her diaper and one sandal. With a purse over her arm and a play cell phone on her shoulder.)

Ana and I have a game that we sometimes play when I’m feeding Emma and sitting in the recliner. Ana will go behind the recliner, peek at me from over the right arm, and then hide, while I ask, “Where is Ana?” and shout, “There she is!” when she reappears on the right side. Doesn’t sound like much fun, I know, but Ana is DELIGHTED by this game. We were playing it the other day, and I said, “Where is Ana?” and kept looking for her over the right arm. A few seconds passed, and no Ana. I looked around the right side, wondering what had happened, and I heard a gleeful laugh from the LEFT side! Apparently, the game had gotten boring, and Ana had figured out how to really trick me. It doesn’t take much, obviously.