Imitation and Narrative Thinking

For some time, the Lark has been in the habit of climbing or descending stairs and counting as he goes. Yesterday he added something new: he climbed to the top of the stair, and when he reached the top, he gave a big, theatrical sigh, as if he were exhausted. Then he went down the stairs and did the same thing. He may have taken this from our Lion Hunt story (which we do every other day) in which we punctuate each step of the arduous journey with a dramatic sigh and a wipe of the brow. So he was able to imitate the gesture and take it from one narrative context into another. Pretty cool!