Learning Curve

The toddler learning curve continually amazes me. I remember learning a technical term for the type of rapid learning and encoding that toddlers can do that helps them learn language and new skills so quickly and put them in long-term memory with only one exposure. I can't remember what it is though. I'll find out and report back.

Tonight, M gave me butterfly kisses. It's such a small thing but it warms my heart sooooooo much! I taught her a few weeks ago and just randomly she will lean in and flutter her sweet eyelashes and giggle because she knows it's tickling me. I love love love it! This afternoon we were outside and she was sitting on the steps. I was arranging flowers and not paying attention and so she marched over, got in my face and slowly beckoned with her pointer finger, very clearly, come here, just like Mommy. On Sunday, during conference, she was drawing on the chalkboard and picked up the eraser, giggled, showed me the eraser, saying "phone!" and laughed at herself as she pretended the eraser was a phone and got her head all dusty as she talked to "Daddy" on the phone. She literally learns new words everyday and she is so willing to imitate any new word that I show her. She knows the names of most of her foods and is combining two and three words which makes me so proud. :) She gets "ready to go" finds a purse, puts it on her shoulder, and says "bye" to me and leaves the room only to come back giggling a moment later at how she tricked me into thinking she was leaving. She knows how to blow her nose! One morning the tissue got stuck to her nose. I laughed so hard that she tried to replicate for days after that. She's learning to clean up her messes and will bring me the cheerios she's dropped one at a time and wait patiently by the trash can because she knows she's not supposed to open it herself. She demands three books before bed. Sometimes more, but usually three and she knows when she's been jipped! She cuddles close and looks at the pages so intently that I even have to forgive her for destroying my popup book this morning. I love my girl.