Surely everyone has heard about Operation Christmas Child... if you haven’t, go read about it! Anyway, I’ve been doing shoeboxes for years (for the oldest age range), but this year we decided Anna was old enough to sort of understand what she was doing if she packed her own box for a little girl her age. I told her we were picking out some presents for a little girl far, far away, maybe in Africa (because she knows about Africa), who doesn’t have any toys. She might not even have much to eat or many clothes to wear. Anna asked me what her name was. She wanted to take the box to the little girl herself. So, there are a few things she doesn’t quite grasp yet, but she understood the broader concept. She had a good time at Dollar Tree (we went there so I wouldn’t have to worry about prices; anything she picked would be ok).

Here she is packing up her things:

Sarah wanted to “help” too:

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Anna is reading. She’s 3 1/2. And I am one proud mama.

No, I’m not one of those moms who pushes her kids to overachieve and reach milestones faster than their peers. At least, I don’t think I am. Anna just has a natural knack for it. And I’ve guided her along the way, but really I’ve done very little.

We first figured out she might be an early reader when she was not quite 2 years old. We had given her a toy laptop for Christmas, designed for older kids, but we thought she would have fun pushing the buttons and watching the screen and hearing the sounds… typical baby stuff. Then one day I was watching her play the game where it was “raining letters” and she had to hit the button for that letter before it disappeared from the screen. And she was getting every one right. Upper and lower case. Very impressive, but I thought surely she had just memorized where the buttons were on the computer. So I asked her to point out specific letters for me in her books. And on t-shirts, and cereal boxes, and anything else in the house that had writing on it. And she knew them, almost every one. Upper and lower case.

She had completely taught herself her letters, before she was even two years old, while her dumb mama was totally oblivious (more…)

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Long before I had kids, I learned through babysitting and working in the church nursery that my favorite age is around 1 year old. And Sarah’s in it right now. Here are some of the reasons why:

I rub lotion on my hands, she sees me, drops what she’s doing, and starts rubbing her hands together.

She picks up the comb and tries to comb Anna’s hair.

She holds the toy phone to her ear.

She puts things IN sometimes, when directed to, instead of always pulling them OUT.

I say, “Hug Mama?” and she leans her head in to me.

These seem so simple, but they just show how she’s learning to interact with the world around her. Babies are just interested in experiencing things through their senses—they want to pick up something and see how it feels, tastes, sounds, etc. But 1-year-olds are learning what to DO with things. It’s just a cool transition to watch.

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