seeing the gears turn

one of the fabulous parts about having kids is seeing them learn. i had two moments this week where i literally saw bug create new synaptic connections.

the first was in the bathtub. she finally hit the cultural milestone of 'giving 5'. she loved the sound of her wet little hand slapping my palm. the funny thing is, she would only use one hand. one of hers and one of mine. my attempts to substitute my right hand met with grunts of disapproval. she would simply use her non-slapping hand to pull my non-slappable hand out of the way.

she was content to smack away for minutes on end.

the second time was tonight at a restaurant. i had forgotten to bring a sippy cup for her, as i often do. (this differs from when pooka was a baby and i would bring our entire inventory of baby paraphernalia everywhere we went.)

i had tried to get her to use a straw earlier this week with no success. i tried again and she just spit it out. i tried to hold the cup and let her drink straight from it like she does with the measuring cup in the bath but that just resulted in lots of water pouring down her front, also like the bath version, except that this time it also ran down me since she was sitting in my lap.

then i tried to pipette the water into her mouth. that seemed to work, both for neatness and for actually teaching how a straw works. i kept my finger over the end of the straw and made her suck the water out. after a few sips, i put the straw back in the cup and let her try it big girl-style. presto! she learned how to use a straw.

it was amazing to see her adapt so quickly right before our very eyes. two little skills we take for granted, and now she's mastered them.

only 46,204 more little skills to learn.