The Little Hulk

**Update: My friend Kelly commented on this post to tell me that the word Katie Anne was saying is "empujen", which is the Spanish word for push!

One of the easiest things about parenting Katie Anne (and one of the things that we will hate to lose when a new baby comes into the house) is that she's really responsible around the house even when she's unattended.  Of course, I should knock on wood before I even type this, but she's never done any of those typical things that kids her age do when left alone for a few minutes... she doesn't climb to high places, draw on walls with crayons, get out stuff that she's not supposed to, or break things.  She even warns us to be careful around things that are glass or small choking hazards like she's the parent!  She puts drinks on coasters if people forget, puts laundry in hampers if someone leaves it on the floor, and loves to clean and put things away.  In fact, we don't worry about letting her color with markers or play with Play Doh while we're doing other chores around the house - she is very responsible with these things and always follows the rules once you explain them to her.

So, I was in the bathroom putting on my makeup yesterday while she was playing in the living room.  I could hear her playing with Peach - it sounded like they were getting ready for a party.  Then, I heard her chanting some word I didn't know over and over... it sounded like "Imbuhen!  Imbuhen!"   After hearing this over and over, plus hearing a subtle scraping sound, I called out to her and asked what she was doing.  She told me, "Just moving a black chair for me to sit in at the party!"  I thought of one of our kitchen chairs, which are small and partially black, or even our dining room chairs, which are a little heavier and all black.  So, I walked into the living room to see what she was doing.  

Imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw this:

The black chair she was talking about - which is actually dark brown - was our leather recliner in the living room!  This is a very heavy chair, and I have a hard time moving it by myself.  To give you some perspective, here's a picture of how far she moved it.  It's normally facing the opposite direction in that corner by the french doors.

I was very shocked that she'd been able to move it that far in such a short time.  I told her that she didn't need to move it because it was too heavy for her and it would scratch the floors, so she said, "Okay, I'll just put it back where I got it."  Then, she got started on the work:

I made a little video of her moving the chair back - mostly to get her saying "imbuhen" out loud.  The video is dark, but you can hear her saying the magic word.

(Of course, as soon as I put the camera down, I moved the chair back to where it belonged.  Don't want you to think I left the poor kid hanging.)

I asked her more about "imbuhen", and she said it is a Spanish word that she learned from Dora.  She said it is a magic word that helps you push heavy things.  I've googled several spelling variations of the word, and I can't find a word that matches with what she was saying ... but regardless, I may start saying "imbuhen" whenever I need to push heavy things, because it does seem to work!  

Let's hope our little Hulk's furniture moving days are over!