Wipes in the Walls

Last night I babysat for some friends so they could go out for their anniversary. Their 1+ year old was already asleep when I arrived. Their not quite 3 year old is a curly blond delight who says my name and was my best friend last night.

There were a variety of things I enjoyed. Like that fact that she can manipulate iPhoto on my iPhone with amazing skill. She watched one 20 second video of my friend's daughter probably 20 times. After I arrived she immediately got a stuffed monkey for me to hold on to while she held on to a stuffed doggy. Anytime I happened to put it down, she gladly assisted me by making sure it was right by my side or in my lap. We "played" Yahtzee, and by play I mean we shook the dice in our hand, put the dice in a cup, added the yellow dots for keeping score also into the cups, and then poured the contents out into the box lid and counted the dots of the dice. I am amazing at how entertaining it was for her to do over and over and over again.

The most fascinating thing was watching this young mind learn a new concept.  We "played" the game Cranium Hoopla. By playing in this game I mean we got out  all the colored pieces and divided them up and then spent a good 30 minutes pulling out cards and she would ask me- "what is that?". There were three she kept coming back to. "Plumber" ,"Afro", and "Deep End". "Afro" was a picture of a man taken at a lot angle, he had no shirt on, and obviously a giant Afro. The little girl would lean back and try to mimic his facial expression. "Deep end" was a little harder to explain to her. It has a guy who just jumped to the bottom of the pool in cannonball fashion. The third one is the inspiration for this post, "Plumber". The photo was black and white, a man holding a wrench to a pipe overhead. She would stare at the photo, ask what it was, stare at it a gain, and ask what it was. I repeated the same thing. "It's a plumber, he fixes the pipes. Pipes bring in the water for your toilet and bathtub. Sometimes the pipes are in the walls, so you can't really see them." This exercise was repeated probably a dozen times. Then it clicked for her. She pointed to the wall and said- "wipes in the walls". Wipes? Oh, pipes.  I'd correct her and she repeated it back correctly. "pipes in the walls". Then a few minutes later, "wipes in the walls".  The whole process was awesome because not only did I get to teach her a new concept, but I also got to watch brain connections get made right before my eyes. 

I've also been watching an 8 month old friend of mine the past several weeks as well learn new things. She is a serious thinker and sober child like her father. She makes you work for smiles. However, it's getting easier and easier. At church when I'm sitting near her and we make eye contact, she will often smile without much coaxing from me with me mimicking her sticking her tongue over her bottom two front teeth. Two weeks ago I introduced her to a 10 inch bouncy ball. Last night I watched her sitting up by herself and in a very basic manner try to catch it being rolled to her, and then push it away. The same thing, she was figuring things out right in front of me.

If this is what you parents get to do every single day, I am definitely going to keep praying for the chance to be a mom someday.

"Where does the water come from?
"From the pipes"
"Where do the pipes get it?"
"From wherever the pipes get it"
"It's magical"