It’s rare to have the opportunity to observe Rowenna in an environment she has spent a lot of time visiting without me. She attends a weekly playgroup run by her Montessori school and because I’ve been so sick, hubby has been taking her.
Today was my first session in 5 weeks and what I saw surprised me. She spent the majority of time upright and tottering around, where once she insisted on crawling everywhere because it’s faster. Toys that could be used while sitting she played with while standing, keeping herself level with most of the other kids. She engaged her peers with eye contact, smiles, and chattering. She offered hugs and pats on the back. She tried out the hand actions that go along with songs during the sing-a-long. She poured water from a tiny pitcher into a tiny cup and was able to drink from that open cup on her own. (For anyone unfamiliar with how Montessori does snack time for toddlers, I can assure you it is pretty much the cutest thing ever, and it involves tiny place mats and tiny cloth napkins.)
She’s been doing some of these things at home, but I’ve never seen her do most of these things in the context of other kids. (Well, except for the chattering and hugging – she’s been on a kick lately.) It seemed so…normal. She fits in, and fits in effortlessly.
It’s been a summer of Rowenna showing me what she’s made of. We visited hubby’s family farm and she rolled with the punches – swimming in the lake, the river, trying out a frisbee. We went to a water park and she fearlessly attacked the waves in the wave pool, grinning ear to ear. She’s picking up words and signs and starting to string things together in her own way. She loves to kick balls and recently showed us she can walk up and down stairs with help instead of crawling.
She shows me every single day that it’s right to trust her and her abilities and to let her lead the way. She’s going places and there’s nothing this momma can do to stop it, so I’m going to kick back and keep enjoying the ride with this sweet girl.
Watch out world – she got her mother’s passion for political advocacy!
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