It’s March and the trees are beginning to bud and there is a slight scent of spring in the air. Life always feels better when spring is on the horizon. As the afternoons are filled with warmth and good smells, we find ourselves playing outside often. Carson, much to the happiness of her grandpa, is quite the gardener. She finds the closest plastic pot and fills it with dirt. She then walks, tightly grasping the plastic pot, to a larger container, and pours out the dirt. Back and forth. Back and forth she goes. Without stopping, she puts her head down, determined to do something. Who knows what is going on in the mind of a child, but Carson definitely has it in her mind that she has a job and she needs to complete it. Of course, like the rest of us, there is time for breaks. Only Carson’s consist of brief moments of sucking her thumb and twisting her hair, standing in the sun, the dirt scattered at her feet. We had a close encounter this weekend with an unidentified piece of animal poop buried in the potting soil pile. Carson found it, and was about to take a bite. We like to think that it never made it to her mouth. We’ve heard that germs are good; they make for a tougher immune system. So we live in the country now and that is good, very good. It is hard to pass up an afternoon watching Carson run around the pasture, wave at the dogs, look into the sky to see the passing geese, and scoop dirt into piles.
In addition to learning to garden, Carson is learning words. She still hasn’t said any completely coherent words or phrases, although she does a very good job mimicking the word “hot.” She says it in a whisper, breathy, as though it is a secret and should be said quieter than the rest of the words. She knows where her hair is, where her teeth are. She loves to pull up mommy and daddy’s shirts while people are visiting to show everyone their bellies. She wakes up in the morning, signing “more” to let mommy know that she is hungry. The sign for “more” has really turned into “I want.” And the sign for “all done” has evolved into “pick me up” or “let me down.” It is amazing to watch her listen to our words and respond, not with a word, but with a smile or a nod. She understands us. It is good to feel understood by someone you love so much.