We spend the majority of our child's quiet beginnings wondering what they think about things. Do they like the way that tastes? Do they like cuddling as much as we do? Do they prefer the color blue or red? It seems as of late I am starting that all over again with my Ainslie. She has what you might call a "baby poker face." She isn't quite as expressive as Ella is, and I sometimes wish I could tap into that little head of hers. Its quite apparent that the wheels are turning, (and usually in a direction that leads to trouble for me) but it's a mystery until the dog howls, the channel on the TV mysteriously changes or an electric plug gets licked.
My Ella on the other hand is developing her speech at such a rate, that there isn't much we don't know about what she thinks, how she feels or how she sees her world. It's funny how we spend so much time wishing our babies could talk to us, and then when they do, we spend most of our time telling them to be quiet, or use their inside voice. I guess if I just developed the ability to let everyone know exactly how I feel, I'd be loud about it too.Back when I was a late teen I worked at a daycare. My favorite and longest stint there was taking care of the 3-turning-4-year-olds. I mainly loved it because that is the age you get the freshest view of the world. "Fresh from God, but old enough to speak," I guess. You never know whats going to come out of their mouths, and I used to love to come home and tell my Mom all about the funny things the kids would say to me. And now that I have a 3-year-old of my own, its even more fun!
About 2 weeks ago, on our way to VBS, we were stopped at a red light at an overpass. "Mommy!Mommy! Look! Teeth," I heard Ella yell from the backseat. Teeth? Where on EARTH could there anything out here that looked like teeth?
Then, I figured it out. Paint roll marks in a pattern on the side of the overpass bridge DO look like teeth, but what adult would think that? (FYI: I wasn't so good as to whip my camera out right then, but I did think about it later and decided I should take a picture to remember it later! It was at a red light, don't worry!)
That same week Ella spent every afternoon walking through the church parking lot at VBS talking about cookie crumbs. It took me about 2 days to realize that she was talking about the gravel that made up the church parking lot. I spent most of my adolescent life walking in and out of that parking lot and my Ella spends 1 second and notices "cookie crumbs."
As much as it saddens me, I know she'll outgrow this phase. Too soon, I imagine. I can only hope she holds on to that wonderful point of view for as long as she can.
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