scarecrow

Sam,

I was trying to fall asleep the other night, but my mind was going a million miles a minute. That's usually what happens to mommies...or maybe just your mommy...who knows? I get caught up in what needs to be done the next day to fulfill my work role, my mommy role and everything that falls in between or my mind starts planning art projects.

So, I was laying there thinking about a project I might want to tackle. I'd been working on an alphabet painting for a custom order that week and thought it might be fun to tackle a farm themed one to post to the shop. I started to fill in what I could in my head for each letter that might pertain to farm life ...apple...barn...corn... I worked my way down the alphabet leaving some letters to ponder when I woke up just 5 short hours later.

When I got to "S", I immediately thought "scarecrow". And that's when your adorably chubby little 18-month-old face popped into my head. That fall, I was starting to get concerned that you were going to have a hard time developing your vocabulary. Sure, you could say "mama" and "daddy" and a few other staples to be able to communicate when combined with your laughing or crying and pointing. You had a name for your newborn sister...no, not her given name, but "Chee". It was as cute as could be, but, as hard as I tried, I couldn't get you to call her "Grace".

One day, I ran out to grab some groceries and came home with a cute fall scarecrow to hang on the front door. You were intrigued. After an afternoon of checking it out, that evening, on your way up the stairs to bed, you stopped at the front door, pointed to our new decoration, and clearly stated, "Scarecrow". I stood there dumbfounded with tears in my eyes as you toddled happily up the stairs to brush your teeth.

Today, as you carried on a lengthy conversation at the zoo casually using words like "evidently" and repeating every fact you'd ever learned about lions, I had to laugh to myself at how silly I was back when you were starting to talk. "Scarecrow" was the turning point and you haven't stopped talking since.

You've developed an ability to captivate an audience with your tales, no matter what the subject. You love to learn and love to teach what you've learned. As much as I'd love to find a pause button for the here and now, I really can't wait to find out where you go with this amazing speaking and story-telling ability that you possess. I can only imagine that it will be remarkable.