What We're Learning from Dora the Explorer

So today, Richie and Avery were helping me make lasagna for dinner. "Helping" consists of sitting up on the counter and spreading the shredded cheese over the layers. Richie (who, keep in mind is two years old and is just beginning to formulate sentences and is quite far from a mastery of the English vocabulary) was having trouble opening his cheese packet. He starts shouting, "Say ABRE! Say ABRE!," which of course is Spanish for "say OPEN, say OPEN!" I think he's been watching a little too much of our Spanish-speaking cartoon friend, Dora. It's one thing to learn a new Spanish word, but it's an entirely different thing to actually expect the cheese packet to open itself on command!