Tonight after daycare your mom and I took you to a new park. You had missed your snack, so we fed you Cheerios and tiny bites of mozzarella cheese stick while you were in the tiny tot swing. You thought it was funny when I popped an o in your mouth as you swung forwards, and you wanted to try the cheese bite hand off on the fly, but that didn't work so well, so we took to stopping your swing, handing you the cheese bite, and then restarting. We had to slow down the cheese because you started to "chipmunk" it (fil your cheeks without swallowing any).
As the budding botanist you seem to be, you noticed some coniferous tree with hairy bright yellow flowers. I have no idea what it was, but you wanted to check out the flowers. You always smile so wide and bright when you get to touch and explore something new.
The park had a tunnel slide for the big kids, and I took you down that. Mom got video on her phone. You really loved it. We did it several times. Eventually, you wanted to crawl up the steep and slick slide, and I don't think even I would have had an easy time of that. So we went back to the tiny kid part of the park where there was a mini version. You crawled up the mini tunnel (with some difficulty and help from me, because it was really slipery), and then crawled up the rest of the play equipment to the straight slide, which you simply dove down head first. Mom caught you. I was impressed that you were so brave.
At home tonight you showed even more mastery of putting blocks into your car trunk, and have been very interested in opening and closing doors. You pull on the door stops to open them when closed,because it's all you can reach and get ahold of.
Your mom washed my rowing backpack, because I had left a banana in there by accident for a LONG time. It was black and moldy and sour smelling when I finally found it. So the whole thing needed a cleaning. When she emptied it, there were a few dimes, a nickel and a quarter. I decided they should go in your piggy bank, so I got your bank off the shelf, helped you and the bank in my lap, and showed you the dimes going in to the bank. You immediately understood what I was inviting you to do with the nickel and quarter, and got the nickel in first try. The quarter was a bit harder for you, and at one point, you tried to give it to me to do for you. You have a very logical understanding that just asking an adult is more efficient. we'll still try to teach you to do things for yourself. I also hope to teach you how to be smart with your money, and disciplined. Tonight you practiced "saving" for the first time. I hope it becomes a fun thing. When I was a small boy, I found all kinds of money on the sidewalk. I'd ask my daddy if I could put the coins in his "coin purse" which was a plastic oval with a slit, like a deflated football, about 3 inches long. Back in those days, coins in the US were actually worth carrying. The idea was, dad would keep it in there for safe keeping, and when I got home with him, he'd give me the coins back and I'd put them in my piggy bank. It's what started me off being a saver, too. I always felt bad spending anything from it, and I loved opening it up from time to time to see what I had.
Ask me some day to tell you about mowing grass for Mr. Jorgensen and saving up to buy a bike.
You went to bed without a fuss again tonight. You're a sweet, fun loving, giggly curious child, and I love you more than you will know until you have your own children. I hope I get to see that some day.
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