How Stuff Works

These days, Nora is figuring out how stuff works.

Every morning (and sometimes in the evening), she turns the music/lights toy on in her crib. She often uses her feet. She knows exactly where the button is and what it does. She kicks it repeatedly, turning it on and off. On and off.

The wheels in her head are turning constantly. Her brain is a sponge. It’s really an amazing thing to witness.

Last week, I was playing with her on the floor. We were playing with her ball popper, which we brought out and started to play with a few weeks ago. She used to just grab the balls off the track, hold them, play with them, stick them in her mouth. But last week, I saw her put the ball back in the track. It was the first time I had seen her do it, but it seemed purposeful. So we continued playing, and then… she did it again. And again. Now, she does it like it’s no big thing. She still grabs the balls out of the track to play with them, but when she’s done, she puts them back. She knows how it works.

Last night, we were making dinner, and Nora was playing nearby on the floor, with a few toys around her, including the ball popper and her teapot. The teapot set has three little desserts that come with it that she likes to play with. At one point, Michael and I watched her play by herself from afar, and noticed that she was taking one of the little desserts and placing it in the track to the ball popper. (The desserts are roughly the same size as the balls.) It’s not perfectly round, so of course it wasn’t rolling anywhere. She’d place it in the track, watch for a second, then take it back out. Then she’d try again. We commented on it to each other, laughing about how cute it was. It’s so funny to see how her mind is working. She’s understanding cause and effect. She’s figuring out how the pieces of the “puzzle” go together in life. I love it.

After observing for a minute or so, we went back to making dinner, ate it, and got Nora ready for bed. As I was rocking/nursing Nora in her room, Michael was cleaning up the toys in the living room. I suddenly heard him bust out laughing, and I called out, “What?” He soon brought me a photo to show me.