Mailing a Package and Spitting Milk

Zuzu: 3.67 yrs old
Bear: 1.56 yrs old

Zuzu in the backseat with the package on her lap that we're going to mail to Arizona. There's a toy inside the box. She knows the toy isn't for her, but she played with it before it went in the box, and she's a little sad that it isn't staying with us. She talks to the toy inside the box all the way to the FedEx store. She tells it what's going on outside, since it can't see for itself. She points out the house where one of her friends used to live, and explains that he moved to a different house. She tells it the color of each car that we pass. She shouts out, "there's an American flag!" Then she carries the package into the FedEx store and puts it on the counter. The FedEx lady is really nice. Zuzu tells her about the toy inside the box. Then she says, "Do you want to see what shoes I'm wearing?" So the FedEx lady leans over the counter and Zuzu holds up her foot, clad in a sparkly Princess Belle flip flop. When we leave, Zuzu shouts the name of the toy up to the heavens, not hoping to get the toy back, not expecting it to hear her, but just giving vent to her feelings of missing the toy.

The kids in a friend's backyard, playing in a blow-up pool. Bear is tentative and clingy when I try to put him in the water. He gets over it quickly. The other kids play at the edge of the pool. Bear stands in the middle. He splashes and stomps and cackles and has an immensely good time.

The way Bear looks holding milk in his mouth, looking up at me with mischief all over his face. "Don't spit it out," I warn him sternly. He has been spraying milk out of his mouth for fun. I've told him no, and now he's just trying to provoke me. His eyes are laughing at me. He keeps taking sips of milk and not swallowing until I've glared at him a while. But he doesn't break the rule again ... he just toes the line.