Connecting

About a month ago, when visiting Karen and Karl in Cincinnati, we placed Ollie in a new bouncy seat. Well, actually, it didn't bounce, but it propped Oliver upright so that his hands were in line with three dangling, primary-colored toys. He furrowed his brow, pursed his lips into a fish face, and began to punch the toys. He was so serious about the task at hand, it was as if we had sat him in front of a standardized state test. Our smart boy almost always picked "C." I mean, the yellow toy.

It occurred to me that we had a bouncy seat at home we purchased for $5 at a garage sale, that he had no interest in previously. We plunked him in it when we got home, and before long he connected that when he kicked, the seat bounced and the toys went a swingin.' He tested out of his elementary reasoning minutes later when he then deduced that he might fly higher if powered with dual leg-lifts. And so he flew. He looked like a Scooby Doo character, when they would run in place with dusty little tornados at their feet before they actually moved anywhere.

One of the greatest joys of watching Oliver grow every day is seeing him make connections like this. If you look closely enough, you can just make out the glow of a lightbulb above his little head. And then every day he is more and more excited to sit in that bouncy seat, look in that mirror, and grab onto that rattling octopus haning off of the floor gym, knowing that what he can do with his little sausage limbs will inevitably effect what's sitting in front of him.

I anticipate that motherhood will be a series of moments like this for me. Like, oh, I pack more than one extra outfit in the diaper bag at all times. Oh, maybe I should wipe his neck clean of curdling milk under his chin rolls before he starts to smell like cooked macaroni. Or oh, maybe I should give myself a little slack at trying to keep on top of everything, and it will still be okay. Just another lesson that Oliver is teaching me: when the lightbulb begins to shine over my head, I can find joy in the learning, and know that I'm doing well. On a good day, maybe even passing with flying colors.