C and me

 

Yesterday was cooking class day for L, and because of Sunday's time change, I knew C would do best to wait for a nap until after we picked big sister up. After we kissed L goodbye for her two-hour class, C and I were left to fill that time and it was my job to keep him from dozing off only to be awakened too soon to retrieve big sister.

So, I took a deep breath and, feeling inspired by the Montessori video link in my last post, I decided to spend the afternoon following C and letting him take me through the steps of each activity he chose. First we took the long route back to our car in the parking lot outside cooking class. C requested I lift him up to sip and splash in the drinking fountain, then hopped down and wandered past the rock-climbing wall, where he stopped to tell me that he'd like to climb it with sister sometime--this took paragraphs and paragraphs of conversation to fully get me to understand. When we approached the building's exit, he wanted to press the silver button on the wall to make the glass doors open automatically, stopping briefly to bask in a momentary surge of power and control before sprinting over the threshold and out into the sunshine.

We ambled down the sidewalk and paused several times to dip toes into the flowerbeds and gently push the bark dust around. Then we had a chat about the bamboo--tall, green and leafy--at the end of which, C reminded me about the pandas at the zoo. Yes, I encouraged, they do eat bamboo just like that. We spent several minutes lingering near the gate to the outdoor swimming pool, where C noticed some exposed pipe fixtures and listened to them hiss, then asked what they were. He then proceeded to bend near the earth to delicately pluck a blade of decorative grass in his pincer grasp, then transported it about 10 paces down the walkway to deposit it into another place in the garden. He repeated this action about three times until it pleased him. Then I asked him to carry my bag to the car. He grinned in a way that seemed to say he was truly flattered that I would choose him for this most important task. The bag was heavy, and though I offered to take it over, no, no, he would accept no help. I think C knows he's big now--almost 2. When at last we approached the car, I asked him to pull the keys out of the bag for us. Again, he seemed incredulous that I would be trusting him with the responsibility and promptly did just as I asked.

We drove home for a picnic lunch on the living-room floor and stories in his bedroom--just the two of us. Soon it was time to fetch L and return quickly home to give C the nap he became so desperate for after all of this adventure and examination of the world around.

So many tiny and wondrous things happened to C and me that afternoon, while big sis wasn't around to run the show and mama decided to see how big her little boy is now--that he is fully capable of calling the shots for a while. When N returned later that evening from a two-week trip to Asia, he, too, was amazed by little C. Even after just two week's time, C knows more words, stays dry for entire days without a diaper, can climb into his own chair for dinner and he's working on using a regular glass instead of a sippee cup. Who knows what the next two weeks may bring?