Learning

Warrick is learning so much so fast, it's amazing. I feel that as I watch him, I am relearning to wonder and explore and find beauty and intrigue in tiny commonplace things. I thought I would note a few beautiful things I've noticed in the last couple of days.

W took a break from his intense walk to pick up two sweetgum pods . . . they really are pretty cool. They are only uncool if you step on them unsuspectingly while barefoot. He carried them, one in each hand, by the stem and girated with them as he wiggled them around.

Music doesn't need explanation. I was playing a new CD, Band of Horses, a hand-me-down from my brother-in-law. One of the songs breaks into a fairly percussive section after the mellow intro. Without a demonstration on my part, W began to violently shake his head back and forth in time to the beat. I laughed my face off and tried to join him and then thought better of it, as I have to frequent the chiropractor anyway . . . . jeez, he's flexible.

Sharing. I realize that kids often don't want to share, but W is just so darn in love with people, that he tries to share with all sorts of strangers. While waiting in line to get our fabric cut, he sweetly and emphatically gave a stranger 6 glue sticks. While playing at the train table at our Toys R Us, he aggressively pressed a Thomas the Tank Engine piece into another little boys face because, I imagine, he was just excited to have someone to play with. And . . . . he has recently enjoyed feeding us. I, for one (right now at least), am not real keen on sharing food, and so made note of his behavior.

I am trying (mostly in my head) to be more assertive about offering words of encouragement to people if I have an encouraging thought. Who doesn't need encouragement? My friend, Katie, although she was not trying to be encouraging, mentioned the other day that the general predisposition of your young child usually stays with them into adulthood. So, if your kid is shy and spends time observing before he jumps in . . . . he'll probably be that way later too. Because I am pretty enthralled (most of the time) by W's personality, I was really excited about this. And then, I realized something else . . . . He will probably be the kid who gets in trouble at school for being silly. And his teacher, like me, will have trouble disciplining him because she can't stop laughing.

I don't think that's a bad thing.