I can no longer stop myself from bragging…

Ruby has a placemat with a world map on it, and after every meal is over, she pushes aside her dishes and says, “let’s talk about countries!” As a map lover, I can’t resist this entreaty. She started by pointing at the very largest countries and asking me what they were called. Soon she was also interested in medium-sized countries as well, and I realized she now knows a LOT of countries’ names, so I made a list.

When I point at the following countries, she can name them (these are the ones she knows best):  Russia, Madagascar, Australia, Mongolia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Greenland, Canada, United States, Antarctica, China, Mexico, Bolivia, France, Norway, Papua New Guinea.

When I ask her to point to these countries, she can (these are the ones she’s learned more recently): India, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Finland.

That makes 21 countries! There are other countries she’s just now learning where she knows the name but can’t reliably find them on the map (England, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore).

I swear I’m not pushing this on her; she’s as naturally interested in maps as I am.  And I’ll add that she can identify most of these countries on other maps that have different colors. I’m amazed. Is this normal?

New photos up

I posted two last photos from September (first one here).

I also put up the first batch of photos from October,  including some leaf pictures,

lots of pumpkin patch pictures,

and our own pumpkin carving:

A Toddler’s Take On Death

This morning Ruby and I were sitting in the bathroom together, as we occasionally do. I finished up my business and waited for her to finish hers. For no particular reason I started singing “Ring of Fire”. It’s one of Ruby’s favorite songs, and I’ve got a tendency to burst into random song at random times.”He’s dead,” Ruby said after I’d finished the chorus.”Who?” I asked.”Johnny Cash is dead,” Ruby said. I was impressed that she remembered who sang the song, and even more impressed that she knew he’d died.”Yes,” I said, “he died a few years ago. But he lived a long time, so that’s okay. Most people live a long time, and then they die.”I’m not one to shy away from the topic of death with Ruby. Death is a natural part of living, and one of my goals as a parent is to give her a holistic view of the world. I told Ruby that most people live a long time, but some people don’t. And I told her that everything dies: people, animals, trees, everything dies, because that’s an important part of life.”But Papa”, Ruby said, “who will be my parent if you die?”This was an unexpected question. Not just the transition from death of random people to the death of me, but the more insightful understanding that if I died, then I wouldn’t be around to take care of her. From the worried look in her eyes, I could see that Ruby has a good understanding of what death means.I told Ruby that if I died, then her Mama would take care of her. And if Mama died too, there would be a long line of people who would be there to take care of her: her Aunt Ni, Bebe and Pop, Nana and Grandpapa. She wouldn’t have to worry about that. And I also told her that I would probably be alive for a long time, so she wouldn’t have to worry.”Will you come back?” she asked.I told her that was a complicated question, and that some people think I will, but that I think I probably won’t.”You should come back,” she said.”Well, I’ll try, Ruby, and if I can, then I will.”She paused for a few moments, thinking about it.”You should come back,” she said again. Then after a few more moments, “I love you.””I love you too,” I told her, and that is a great way to end a conversation about death.

End Of Summer Action, Part II

After a summer of mediocre weather, the typical September hot spell arrived right on time. But last week, with the forecast calling for increasing clouds, we decided that I should take the day off work so we could enjoy the last sunny day of the summer at the Puyallup Fair.

We went to the fair to peruse the vendor stalls, see the animals, and do some rides. Ruby wasn’t so keen on the vendor stalls, and was only moderately intrigued by the animals. Even a camel and two zebras didn’t really grab her attention as much as I’d expected.

The rides, on the other hand, were a big hit. Although we had our eyes on the ferris wheel, Ruby was too short. In fact, Ruby was too short for a lot of the rides that we thought would be perfect for her.

So, we all went on the giant slide together (with Ruby riding between my legs). Kate won the race. Then we got in line for a kids’ roller coaster. I was a little nervous as to whether or not she’d like the ride — and if she didn’t, what the result would be? Would she get upset? Would she (horror!) try to get off? After waiting in line for a while, though, Ruby decided that she didn’t want to go on this ride (I think it was too noisy for her). Instead, she went on a fairly lame motorcycle ride.

After a bit of a break to explore more of the fair, we found a different kids’ roller coaster. This time, Ruby had no doubts about getting on the ride, and I was happy to see lap belts would keep the kids in place whether or not they wanted to be there. And Ruby loved it! She was smiling through the whole ride.

In fact, all she wanted to do after that was go on rides. So, we took the gondola ride across the fairgrounds. We tried to get Ruby onto another roller coaster but she was rejected for being too short. Instead, Ruby went on a swing ride with Kate, and then we all took a train ride together. And after that, we had to plead poverty and drag Ruby back to the car.

End Of Summer Action, Part I

Kate, Ruby, and I took advantage of some well-timed good weather to do two fun things: go swimming, and visit the Puyallup fair. Both of these were great opportunities to see Ruby try some new, fun things.

Two weeks ago we went to Mounger Pool (an outdoor pool in Magnolia) on its last open day of the season. The weather was sunny but a little chilly, and we were all fighting off colds, but we decided to brave the waters anyway. Ruby had been taking swimming lessons with me all summer, and Kate was excited to see firsthand the progress she’s made.

Ruby showed Kate all the new swimming skills she’s acquired over the summer: she can hang onto a water noodle (or other flotation device, probably) and swim around all by herself; she can jump from the pool deck into the arms of someone waiting in the pool; she can hang on the edge of the pool by herself; she can comfortably float on her back while I hold onto just the back of her head; and we can even let go of her for a few seconds and she’ll go underwater and open her eyes (she’s not strong enough to swim to the surface yet).

Mounger has a decent water slide. It has a single drop at the beginning leading into a 270-degree turn before the water. It’s small, but worth the extra dollar each for unlimited rides. We took Ruby on this slide — she sat between my legs (or Kate’s legs) and we’d slide down together. After a trip with each parent, though, she wanted to go down by herself!

Kate or I would go down first and wait for Ruby at the bottom of the slide. Then the other would put Ruby in the slide and gave her a little shove. She mostly stayed upright and pointed in the right direction, and loved the ride. She wanted to go again and again. I watched her from above as she slid down the last section before she hit the water, and the giant grin on her face was the highlight of my day.