Growth

Yesterday Linus demonstrated new skills and signs of maturation, mostly to my delight.  Firstly, he pretended to be a tree.  He frequently pretends to be a rabbit, horse, fox, fish, or egret, but never a plant.  He stood on my legs, pointed down to them and said, "Dirt." He stood up tall and I asked if he was a plant. He said yes, but then changed his mind and said, "No. Tree."  I was so excited to call Matthew at work to tell him. He cheered and his coworkers came running to find out what was going on.

Secondly, he correctly identified his first letter of the alphabet.  He received an alphabet magnetic board from Sara and Billy for Christmas. The letters are on magnet squares in a fabric pouch.  He pulled one out and I asked him what letter he had. He said, "V."  I asked if there was a vase on it and he said yes. I leaned over and, sure enough, he was correct. He did it again today, so it wasn't just a fluke.

The third big thing to happen took place at lunch. I offered to help him get the cottage cheese off of his hands and he said, "No. Self."  I said okay and kept on eating, while on the inside I was freaking out that my little one is now very obviously moving on to be an independent person.  When I gave him seconds on peaches, he didn't want me to cut them for him. He said, "Self," and then successfully cut them with his fork.  

Where did my baby go?  I think he has quietly disappeared and left a growing and changing toddler in his place.

Here are some pictures of Linus with animals at the stock show.  When I bought the feed for the animals, the woman said Linus was too young to feed them. I disagreed, but politely answered that I was buying it for me to feed the animals.  Then first thing I did was show Linus how to feed the goats. He showed no fear whatsoever.  He was so comfortable around the animals.  I was so proud of him and pleased that his comfort level came from me.