How Much She Understands

It's summer, which means that sometimes you tune into your favourite tv show only to find an episode that you've already seen. I am on vacation from work this week, and I've decided that instead of not blogging during periods when I am on vacation, I would republish some older posts, with a few edits/revisions. Since I am on vacation, I will be an infrequent (possibly completely absent) visitor to your blogs over the next week.

Listen - Toad The Wet Sprocket
Originally published July 2006.

Sometimes children can truly amaze you. Today, my dear wife was taking a shower while Munchkin was down for a nap. Midway through the shower she awoke screaming. I let her be for a few minutes to see if she would settle herself, and when she did not I put on my brace and walked hobbled over to her room.

I went in and smelled that she had gone poo. I explained to her that I could not carry her from her crib to her change table, and that when I took her out of the crib she needed to walk over to the change table and wait for me. When I put her down she walked over to the change table and faced me with arms outstretched. I lifted her up and explained that she needed to be still while I changed her. She lay motionless for the entire change, none of her usual squirming. When I removed her diaper I asked her not to put her hands in it; she replied by folding her hands on her chest.

When the change was done, I explained to her that I could not carry her back to our room, and that she needed to walk there by herself safely. I put her down, and she walked - past the open office door (where there are many fun things to play with) and the open staircase - to our doorway. She stopped there and waited until I got close to her, and then she proceeded into the room, climbed up on our bed and waited for me to get into it before cuddling next to me.

This was probably the best behaviour she has demonstrated during a change in weeks (at least from what I can tell; this was my first change since I broke my ankle - I usually hear more struggling from Mommy). I just found it so incredible how she understood and followed my directions.

Epilogue
Munchkin was 15 months old, and I was recovering from a broken ankle when I wrote this post (probably one of my first ten). She had a fair sized vocabulary of signs, but her verbal list was limited to Mama, Dada, animal sounds and maybe five other words. It still amazes me how much she understood and how well she listened.

What things have your kids done that really surprised you (either in a good or not-so-good way)?