Rachel Update

It looks as if we're raising a little literalist. We went out to lunch today and Rachel decided to take a walk around the restaurant as self-appointed goodwill ambassador. As I rounded the corner after her, I heard a loud splat and I thought to myself, "That had to hurt." Right about then, the crying started. I didn't see which body parts made contact with the ground, so I asked Rachel, "What did you hit?"
And of course, the answer was "the floor." Between laughs, I asked again, "What did you hit?" And again the answer was "the floor." She's probably thinking, "Duh, Daddy!" And somewhere Sir Isaac Newton is smiling.
At least she's attemping to follow some rules though. I brought her with me to pick up my car at the Honda dealer (they had given me a loaner for the day. Of course, the car misunderstood and kept to itself and didn't bother anyone.) Anyway, I put Rachel into my car while I reinstalled her car seat. She crawled into the front seat and started pretending she was driving. The Honda folks were impressed though, because before she pretended to drive off, she tried to fasten her seatbelt and shoulder harness.
This was after I had offended her in some way and she looked at me and loudly proclaimed, "No! No No No No No No No No No NOOOOOOOO!" Another man looked over and smiled as she walked past him with her arms crossed and an impudent harumph on her face. I smiled wanly back and said, "And there you have the essence of two."
The week before, we went to pick up Mommy from choir practice at the Temple and I was trying to impress upon Rachel the importance of being reverent and subdued there. She seemed to understand, as she whispered, "Be quiet." That was followed by the loudest voice she could muster two seconds later. "WHERE ARE WE?!"