Sunday, September 21, 2008

Counting to Ten

She's growing up way too fast.

Sera went from diapers to "big girl panties" in about five seconds. We started the potty training process when school let out in the beginning of June, but we got sidetracked when we went on our long vacation in July. When we came back, though, we started the process again, and bam! She's potty trained. The sticker she's wearing in the picture is from her first accident-free day at daycare. She was very proud of it, and so were we.

She's really interested in helping us cook. Magi and I share cooking duties, especially in the summer when I can grill every night if I want to. Whichever one of us is not cooking tries to keep her entertained so she doesn't get underfoot, but it's been more and more of a challenge. In the picture, she is helping to stir the pasta salad that fed me for a week at school.

We just assembled the Learning Tower, a pretty expensive stepping stool that has safety rails to keep flush with our work surfaces in the kitchen. Sera has already found it wildly fascinating to help prepare food, and I like that. I learned to cook in college, working in the dorm cafeteria. Don't generalize, now...Western Michigan University's food service was outstanding. There were never complaints about food in the dorms. I credit it for helping me to decide to stay in the dorms all the way through school. Cooking is a skill that everyone values when you can do it well, and I'm glad that Sera wants to learn. Yesterday, she helped make her own sandwich for lunch. She chose what went on it and spread the mayonnaise on with her plastic knife. She chose chicken and ham, mayonnaise, tomato, onion, pickle, and sport peppers from the refrigerator. I'm not making this up. I didn't choose a single item. She's like a little Dagwood, this one. Takes after her daddy!

The most amazing thing that Sera has done in the past few weeks is to count to ten. It's not what you think. She didn't just recite the numbers in order. She counted her floating letters one by one as we put them away. It's just amazing to me how quick she is, and the quantum leaps in cognitive development she makes. And every time she does it, I feel like she's moving too fast. On one hand, I want to take her to do grown up activities like canoeing and hiking; on the other, I want her to stay my little girl forever.

I have a feeling I'll get my wish both ways.

1 comment:

Jeff McClain said...

It's something that doesn't change, the duality of being a parent. There's never enough time and not enough ways to cherish the experiences before they are straining to be independent from you.