The indoctrination program finally bears fruit

We parked the kids in front of the Sesame Street Old School DVDs this afternoon for an hour before dinner. Later, as we were preparing to go out for our post-prandial stroll, Archer started counting in a funny voice -- puckering up his lips like he was pretending to be a fish, and semi-growling in a low tone. It was only when he mentioned "a counting contest 1 to 10" and started holding up his fingers one by one (with his palm facing him, rather than out toward the listener) that I realized he was imitating Ernie in the slow counting sketch. There doesn't seem to be a YouTube, but maybe you remember it: Ernie counts in a theatrical manner and at a glacial pace, and every time Bert coughs or speaks or breathes, he starts over from the beginning. I couldn't contain myself when Archer looked at me and said, in his strange Ernie voice, "What're you laughing about, Mo -- what're you laughing about, Bert?" Followed, of course, by: "I need to start again. One!"

Of course, CG went over to the Sesame Side a couple of weeks ago, when she wouldn't stop inserting Cookie Monster into the alphabet. It was funny to Archer at first, but after a while he got annoyed and started chiding her: "Uh, Cady Gray -- Cookie Monster is not a letter. Do not say people in the alphabet."