The social gene begins to emerge

So I took Ava to lunch today with the girls. And it's been the most wonderful journey to see the wheels in her head begin to go round as she starts to be more aware of life around her. Just the other day I sat her in her little pink monogrammed armchair to observe her handle the situation of getting out of the chair. Unlike previous occasions, where she would shuffle to the edge only to result in a face first wipeout on the carpet, she stopped. She held onto one of the arms of the chair as she gazed at the ground, and I could literally hear the cogs turning up in her ginger head.

'Now if I just flop off the chair, my face is going to hurt. Again. I need to figure out a smarter way to do this.'

I wanted to help her. I wanted to reach out and guide her little hands and legs into rotating her body off the seat and onto the ground. But I held back. I wanted to watch the buzzers go off inside her head as she began problem solving her way out of it.

I get such a thrill out of the cognitive skills. The skills you can't tangibly see, but you KNOW are there and are starting to form.

Anyway, forgive me for digressing. We were at lunch today, and Ava sat at the table opposite my friend's daughter Lauren. It's been about 2-3 months since they last interacted, and during that time there have been abundant changes for Ava. While there is only a 6 month age gap between the two of them, for the longest time Ava seemed far further behind Lauren as she was learning to sit up, crawl and interact. However, now that Ava is rapidly approaching walking stage and is more aware of others around her, I am starting to see her independently interact with others rather than waiting for an 'OK' signal from me.

This photo I'm posting is of the two of them swapping toys and crayons at the table. It wasn't really so much of a swap than a pas de deux of utter sass. Lauren would hand Ava the crayon, which Ava would then try and sample the waxy flavor. After it was confiscated by me, Lauren would take it and begin to doodle until my head was turned and Ava would then instigate mischief by banging her hand on the table, insisting that the crayon be immediately returned so she could resume eating it!

I caught them in a moment of sharing. It's one of the simplest social skills to master as a child, yet as an adult it's something that more often than not, we have a hard time remembering how to do. Think about it.