First thing every living thing needs – food!
Babies pop out knowing how to suck.
Genevieve has developed a nearly criminal ability to scope out food. She’ll lead me back to rooms at the daycare where she knows extra snacks have been leftover. She has developed survival plans; it reminds how i always make of visual of the company kitchen seeking leftover birthday cake. Initially I thought this was just us spoiling into her an omnipresent desire to know whats on the menu, an overfed American fixation with food. But the teachers at school say all kids are nuts for snacks.
The daycare just started setting out crackers in the afternoon next to the Exit, something our old daycare always did. G noticed by about Tuesday, and immediately resumed habits she hasn’t exercised in 6 months – can i take 2 for me, can i take 3 1 for Alana? G has also learned she gets wider latitude when her motivations purportedly support her sister.
Alana figured out about the crackers by Thursday. She surely had no memory of this from the old school since she never even walked there. Yesterday she followed G to the freezer to get desert. She has shown prescience and anticipation of other people’s comings and goings, fascinated by her own ability to recognize and participate. When i go upstairs, when the cat is on the bed, when G gets a popsicle – Alana is ready to jump in. She’s slower and denser and phonetically challenged and exponentially less fussy about colors, but i have the exact same conversations with Alana as I do with G. She is so much quieter and unassuming, i’m constantly surprised when she makes a great leap forward. Its like how i was surprised with G, but i’m paying 1/3 as much attention, and have 1/3 as much time to appreciate it. Stage time is Alana’s challenge.
