Copycat

Getting What She Wants

Tess has an intense desire for phones. I let her play with our wireless home phone, though I never let her have the Iphones. She loves to walk around with the phone pressed up to her neck, pretending to have conversations. And when I’m on the phone, she likes for me to hold the phone up to her so that she can comment.

All of this means that she also wants strangers’ phones when she sees them. Last week she dissolved into broken-hearted tears when I told her she couldn’t have the phone of the woman sitting next to us on the plane.

A couple weeks ago we went to Angelica’s Kitchen, a famous vegan restaurant that Lenny has been eating at for over 30 (maybe 40?) years. He eats there almost every night, and so it feels a little like our family restaurant since he knows the staff so well. We went early because Tess eats early. When we arrived the dinner crowds hadn’t started yet, the wait staff was changing shifts, and so several of them were eating dinner at the table next to us. All of the staff were coming up to our table and making comments about Tess. A couple of the women were really trying to elicit a smile from her. Tess was being her usual self—slow to give smiles, but interested and giving everyone intense stares.

We ordered dinner; dinner arrived; we put Tess in her high chair and she ate a very little bit. Then suddenly Tess reaches over for the other table and starts twisting toward one of the women at the staff table. She won’t eat anything after this and she starts signing that she wants to get down. I couldn’t figure out why she was interested in this woman, and then I see that she’s taken out her Blackberry and it’s sitting on the table beside her.

We let Tess get down and she approached the woman and touched her leg. I warned her that Tess wanted her phone, and she pushed it back from the edge of the table. Tess persisted in her pursuit of the phone, however, standing beside the woman, gazing into her eyes. At some point, Tess was holding both of the woman's hands and another waitress said it looked like Tess was proposing.

Eventually, the woman lifted Tess into her lap, and Tess willingly let this almost stranger pick her up. Tess continued to stare into her face, and then slowly and slyly started to reach for the phone. I couldn't believe her craftiness. She didn't even break eye contact. The woman gave in, charmed by her cuteness, she let Tess hold the phone and push the buttons.

******

This isn't the only time Tess has made a friend in order to get something she wants. A few days after the phone incident, Tess spotted a sand toy she wanted--a little rake--at the playground. A 6 or 7 year old girl had the rake, and Tess followed this girl back to her circle of friends. There were about 5 girls playing together in the sand about 20 feet from where I was standing. Tess walked right into the circle and stood there staring at these older girls.

They all reached out to pet her and talk to her. She stood there blinking and looking from one to another. Then she tripped, and the girls all reached out to help her up. Tess ended up being such a distraction, that she was able to reach down and pick up the abandoned rake.

As soon as Tess had the rake, she turned back to me and started walking across the sand clutching her prize. The girls ran after her, and when they saw me, they ran up to tell me about how they liked babies and they had helped her when she fell. I thanked them for their kindness, and then had to convince Tess to give them back their toy.

Body Parts

The Cabinets and the Floor

The Demolition

First: The Old Kitchen

The door from the living room to the kitchen: Looking into the kitchen from the foyer:
Standing by the window looking back:
The "pantry":
Another shot of the kitchen:
Looking into the kitchen from the foyer. (Note the position of the door)