Friday, October 24, 2008

Developing Memory and Reasoning

One evening last week, I came home from work a bit late and noticed that the moon was almost full and was very visible from our front porch. So as soon as I went inside, I asked the Pumpkin if she wanted to go outside and see the moon. She knows the moon from books and Baby Signing Time DVDs, but I don't think we've ever really taken her to see it or pointed it out before.

I put on her jacket, picked her up and took her out onto the front porch to look at the moon. She followed my lead and pointed at it and said "Moon!" very excitedly. We looked at if for a while, and then went back inside. It was neat to be able to show her something in real life that she'd only previously seen in books and on TV.

Earlier this week, I came home from work while the sun was still out and saw a bunny in our front yard. He* lives under our front porch and is often in our yard. Also, there are a ton of bunnies in our neighborhood, but the Pumpkin loves to see them each time one is around. So I went inside and told her the bunny was in our yard and asked if she wanted to go outside and see it. Of course she did.

I picked her up and took her outside. The first thing she said was "Moon?" Wow. She remembered from the previous week when I took her out to see the moon. I know she's been remembering stuff prior to that, such as talking about people who aren't currently around, but this was a one-time incident that I hadn't mentioned again. I was floored.

I pointed out the bunny and said, "Look! There's the bunny! Do you see him? He's eating grass."

She repeated that the bunny was eating grass. We watched him for a little while, and then we went inside. When I brought her in, I said, "Tell Daddy what the bunny was doing."

The Pumpkin said, "Bunny eating grass!"

Again, I was floored. Even though I posed the question, I didn't realize that she would be able to answer it! Both because it's an open-ended question that she could have answered with anything and because she remembered what the bunny doing specifically.

The next day, I told the babysitter that we went outside to see a bunny the night before, and then I asked the Pumpkin the same question. "Remember when we saw the bunny yesterday? What was the bunny doing?" And she said, "Bunny eating grass!"

This may seem like a little thing to be amazed about, but to me, it's this leap in cognitive ability that hit me in the face. She probably has already been working on this type of thinking, reasoning, remember. But sometimes, the kid will do something and it just hits me! Wow. She is really growing and becoming a little person.

*Londo has deemed him a male and named him. No, he didn't check the sex. He just decided, and we are going along with it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is amazing when they start remembering things like that. It seems Boog remembers everything. Nothing gets by that kid. I really have to be careful lest a meltdown occur when I cannot produce the deer at the end of our street eating grass on any giving morning. The good thing is that he also understands that the deer are sometimes sleeping. :) He has a thing for the moon too and we sometimes see it in the mornings on the way to school.

Anonymous said...

These kids of ours are truely amazing. Yesterday the Main Man and I were taking a walk and talking about the sky (clouds, colors, planes, birds), when he said Mickey Mouse was up there. Sure enough there was a cloud that somewhat resembled the shape of Mickey Mouse's head. We spent the rest of the walk looking for Mickey in the clouds.

Becoming Mommy said...

Wow.
I can't wait till Sasha talks better. Right now I know he can do all of these things, but there's the language barrier. Pumpkin is really doing fabulously!

I'm Not Skippy said...

My son has noticed the dogs next door, he can see them from his high chair while he eats. He points at the door and says "da?" Now he points at any glass door or windows to the outside and says 'da."

I'm sure it won't be long until he says "father, are the canine mammals currently roaming behind the neighbor's domicile?" For now it'll just have to be "da."

Heather said...

This stage of life amazes me with how much their little brains grow. Court's just starting to follow directions which makes my jaw drop. It's so much fun to watch them learn!

OneHappyCow said...

Crazy! That is how I have been feeling lately with my monkey! The stuff she comes up with, remembers, and associates, days even weeks later, continues to floor me! But that's what you get when you raise, babygenius', right CaraMama?

Karen said...

I love when they start remembering things! I remember when our oldest woke from a nap one day and told me she had fun at Grandma's that morning. I was thrilled!

Oh, and your bunny is probably a girl and reproducing like, well, a rabbit.

Anonymous said...

Wow! That's really cool! And FUN!

BTW, when you said, "No, he didn't check ..." I then started picturing you guys running around the yard trying to catch the bunny. :)

KG said...

How fun! I think it's so amazing to see the cognitive advances of toddlers. They become little people instead of babies. What a fun age!

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