On Development & Preservatives

Dear Little Bear,

You're napping. We took a bath beforehand and you didn't want to get out! I said, "Do you want to stay in the tub or do you want out?" and you said, "In the tub". I asked, because I was about to get out with you and you protested. You said something else today that was almost a sentence but I can't remember, now, what it was.

I noticed how well you were playing on your own while I was cleaning and cooking. You put all the rings on the spindle, played with the toy kitchen, your toolbench, and the crayons. You've been sorting things lately, putting all the crayons in one place, and certain toys on a shelf where you like them. I realized you've been throwing things out the back door in imitation of my throwing the diapers into a wastebasket there.

I think you are going to be neater than I am. Uh-oh. I hope you can put up with me because it will be 18 long years.

This morning you had something sticky on your finger, and you were trying to shake it off, with a look of disgust on your face. It was a tiny piece of cooked apple.

Then, I got the fingerpaints out and you dipped a finger in, and then just shook your finger to get it off. You didn't want to dirty your hands like me and finger paint. Instead, you grabbed the paint tubes and began using them to dip into the paint and spread across the paper. I decided you might like to try paintbrushes so I brought out two, one large and the other small. You dipped them into the paint and brushed them across the paper. When you ran out of paint on a brush, I said to dip it into the paint again if you wanted more paint and you would. You were done when you decided to throw the paintbrushes behind your back. This had been a new fun thing for a few weeks, dropping items behind your back.

Which reminds me of when I was a little girl and what I would do with dinner if I didn't like it. I couldn't throw anything forward, where it might be found, so I quickly threw food behind my back, which went behind a bureau onto the floor where the dogs probably ate it when they were allowed back into the house. I kept my eyes forward to watch whether anyone was turned in my direction.

I bought a puzzle for you, with pictures, that you enjoy looking at. You do enjoy puzzles, but not this kind as much. You'd rather fit a lid over a jar (and you can screw it on too!), or put some odd ends together (a toy nail into a hole).

As for following directions, you can follow two-step commands such as (after you had unravelled half a roll of TP): "Will you please pick up the toilet paper and bring it to Mama?"

When you wake up we'll have to play the monster in the cage game. This is one that gets you laughing. I sit behind a chair with many spindles for the back, and you're on the other side and reach through "the bars" to touch my nose or face, while I'm going back and forth pretending to be a monster. If you "catch" me, I let out a snort or yelp, or bewildered "oh!" and you crack up laughing.

Today I found you taking 2-3 steps on tip-toe. You throw a ball overhand, but it doesn't go far. You sort of throw it a little bit out, but downwards.

You visited the tractors this morning, patting them affectionately, and said some words to Prince Harry (our fish) as Barney kids were singing a song about "fishies". You also danced to the music from a small bit of "The Mouse and the Motorcycle". It was instrumental and I think it's sort of jazz/show tune genre. I don't know. This morning on a walk to the river we suprised a baby bird that hopped into a tree and you followed it and watched, talking to the bird in an animated way, for about 5-10 minutes until it flew away.

Food? finicky? I don't know. When we got the pineapple last, it's all you wanted for 2 days, and now that we're at the end of it, you won't touch it. You haven't been as enthusiastic about your milk and I'm wondering if it tastes different after being frozen. I don't notice a difference, but maybe you do? I don't know. Wish we had our own dairy cow. And chickens. I just read in Consumer Reports for the month of July, that "no added nitrates" hotdogs from Applegate actually have as much as as regular hotdogs. And then the whole organic thing, on what's most important, is confusing. Most say animal products should be organic, but when it comes to fruits and vegetables, one person says root vegetables get the worst of it, and another says leafy vegetables are the most contaminated. And, I know preservatives and pesticides are not generally good for a person, but am I the only one who has ever wondered if preservatives actually preserve people who ingest them (to some degree at least?). I mean, and if so, how? do they slow the aging process in a weird way, so that you live longer, or do they just preserve your organs like being embalmed?

You are into tomatoes right now. I think we'll plant a garden next Spring.