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As I sat Alice on the floor of her room tonight, surrounded by many books and a few scattered toys, I wondered how many times I'd be able to blink before she dove into playing while I collected and put away her things. Like every day, Alice had made sure to play the part of a small tornado during her "room time," leaving me to make it like new before putting her to bed. But the little baby surprised me.
I picked up her books, stacking them in front of me, narrating to her as I went. "And then we take the books from all around and we put them in a pile and we rest them on the shelf." She watched intently. Her eyes went from the books, to my hands, to the shelf. I had almost gotten all of the books when Alice began looking on either side of her -- her eyes landed on a toy. It was a big toy, too heavy for her to carry, but she tried very hard to pick it up. I assumed she wanted to play with it, but pretended she had intentions of cleaning and said, "Thank you!" as I put it away. Her chubby face held its thoughtful expression, and she looked around some more. This time, her eyes landed on her socks that she had yanked off earlier. With her two tiny hands, she fisted the socks up, leaned forward, and dropped them in my hands. I suppose my heart has become far too melatable because, in that instant, it turned to mush. First, I was amazed that her little one-year-old mind could catch on so quickly. Second, I couldn't get over how sweet her desires were to be a part of whatever it was mommy was doing.
After I said "thank you" more times than necessary, with more enthusiasm than necessary, we called Daddy in and showed him Alice's new skill. Then we all clapped (Alice, too, of course) and smiled soooo big and said "yaaaay" for soooo long. Everyday is a party in one-year-old land! It's a good land.
