Of Teethers and Tools

Yesterday Emma's top teether finally cut through. I would have expected her to be miserable beforehand. But quite frankly, we've had a wonderful few weeks with her. She's been so happy and is learning so much.

This week Emma has been learning to use tools. A few days ago, I was brushing my hair. She asked for the brush and I gave it to her. She then proceeded to hold it upside-down while she "brushed" my hair. I was so proud of her.

Yesterday we introduced her to the use of a fork. I expected her to blunder a bit with it and eventually decide to pull the food off of the fork with her fingers before eating it. That's not what she did at all. I stabbed the food for her and then placed the fork on her high-chair tray with the handle facing toward her so she could grab it easily. She deftly picked the fork up and used it properly. I was pretty amazed, though I suppose the concept isn't entirely new to her. Dave and I have always fed her food off of our own forks.

Another "tool" Emma enjoys using is a little net she has for the bathtub. It came with a few floaty fish toys. She correctly understood that the net is for scooping fishies. She's gotten quite good at catching them. We clap for her every time she's successful.