Good things

We went to a park yesterday for a Labor Day picnic - me, my husband, my 2.5yo daughter, and a friend from college. He hasn't seen Claire since mid-July, and Halloween before then. She's had a lot of growing in that time. At lunch, he kept saying, "It's like talking to a short adult. She responds to you, she answers questions, she starts conversations."

He's right, too. I don't see my daughter through his eyes often, but Claire is a lot like a small adult. This evening she scarfed down a bowl of fruit and 1.5 pierogis before telling Joe, "Daddy, I would like some garlic salt on mine, please." It wasn't a demand, and it wasn't full of contractions. Even the fact that she expressed an interest in garlic salt, after seeing Joe use it but without either of us naming it tonight, is truly amazing. Joe had to ask her to repeat herself, it was so surprising and unassuming.

This evening, I took her for a walk to the local strip mall to get a cookie or two for her and some coffee or cider for me. I don't walk with her as much as I'd like, since I rarely pick her up from daycare before I have to go home and make dinner these days. The walk was good, though. We talked about her day at school and said hello to "Luna," as Claire calls the moon. She raced ahead of me, and then waited for me to catch up before racing ahead again.

Along the way, Claire's always looking for something to hold. She picks up sticks, leaves, rocks... anything to either put on our mantlepiece or put in the rosemary bush "for company." I remember being a collector of rocks and pretty leaves, but can't get into my young head enough to remember the motivation for it now.

Claire's got the motivation, though. On our way to the cookie store, she told each and every small rock and twig to stay where it was "and I'll come and get you when we come back, okay?" And then she'd report to me, with a little laugh, "I told the rock to stay there until I got back, Mommy."

True to her word, though, she picked up every twig and rock on the way back, for a total or four this evening. At some point, she fell down while balancing on some big river rocks and broke a twig, which she left with the rocks since it was no longer long. But then her eye caught a longer but skinnier twig and a smaller river rock, which she picked up.

She held them up for my inspection. "I've got little things, Mommy. I'm got a little stick and a little rock. I've got little things, good things."

Me too.