Ever since seeing (and maybe slightly before this) hours-old Canadian geese goslings on a walk, Ess has associated walking with bird watching. She calls all birds “ducks” which we’re working on, but in the meantime, there’s no surer way to settle her down than to talk about a walk in her near future, and seeing ducks. When we’re walking out to the pond, there’s a certain point, about a quarter mile away, that Ess gets really excited anticipating ducks. The other day she goes DUCKS! YAHHHH-DUCKS while sticking her little fists straight out from herself in rigid-body excitement. On the way home, we always make sure to stop and see a stone lawn-decoration duck family Ess calls the tone ducks.
Ess spends her last ten minutes with us precisely the same every night, and the last thing I get to do is carry her to her room, lie her down in her crib, and say “I love you. Goodnight.” Most times she waves and says “buh bye” to mama on her way to her room, sometimes she’s a little weepy, sometimes she’s so tired I hold her head up with my shoulder as I carry her. But the other night, we had changed one little thing to make way for the roofers: we removed a glass-covered picture from the wall so it wouldn’t break during roofing. When I put Ess down, she immediately said “moon moon” and pointed to the empty spot on the wall. Her attention to detail is remarkable. I have no idea if all toddlers are like this, but Ess likes things to happen a certain way and lets us know. I scampered to the desk in the hall, got her moon picture, and hung it back up.
Ess doesn’t have her T sounds yet, so when she says “pink water bottle” it comes out “pink wahgle boggle.” She loves that water bottle, so we get to hear this a lot.
They’re re-roofing the house today. Ess was transfixed by the trucks coming and going and cranes lifting. She stood at the window and watched, the stillest I’ve seen her be while awake and healthy. “Beep beep” went the truck, “bach-up, bach-up” went Ess, shuffling backwards away from the window.
Mother’s Day: today, the last thing Ess did before we took her upstairs for bed was carefully remove each Winnie the Pooh character from her wooden puzzle and tuck them in under the couch pillow. Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl.
Breakfast at Oasis Café this morning, the first time we have ever been there, and what looks like the beginning of a fine tradition. I’m always so proud when Ess colors with her crayons, eats our food, and enjoys herself when we eat out. I look ahead to summer vacations and little weekend jaunts during the school year with great excitement. I love to get a glimpse of the world through her eyes, to see the world again through that lens.
Out of nowhere, Essie says two word sentences to us. This helps us meet her needs and wants, until she runs out of the correct words. Then we’re back to sign language and grunts. We’re also seeing the advent of frustration, whose development I find interesting yet a little sad. This little girl who before would sit and try to do something over and over, showing perseverance but no frustration, will now get immensely frustrated over her inability to do something, typically something physically intricate.
The upside to this is that we get to begin our role as teachers. We get to try to help Ess become a person who responds with patience to frustration, empathy to pain, courage to peril. As I read about the television show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”, I find that betterment is the core message. That there is a person in you with intrinsic worth, who has all kinds of feelings and needs, and your truest self comes out when commit to the most human, least animalistic actions: compassion, generosity, patience, kindness. A real mensch.