the joy of little dirty hands

Living with a two year old has its own daily, hourly, secondly....challenges.  He is like a sponge grabbing knowledge and experience at a pace no adult can even strive to keep up with.  The beauty of living with 4 generations is - Corbyn gets passed from one person to another when the energy levels get too low.  Fabulous time for all concerned. 

Corbyn and his Mum were out on a walk when I got home from work.  Then he was playing with his wheelbarrow and just enjoying being outside. But people can't stay outside all the time.  Let me rephrase that - Adults cannot stay outside all the time, two year olds would live outside!  As the soft touch grandmother, when it was decided he had to come in, I came up with an activity I have been waiting to have a chance to do with Corbyn - we planted seeds!  This is not his first time planting - he planted sunflowers last Spring and has got a bulb on the go from his Nursery School.  (In fact, his bulb is the only one left alive!).   But this was OUR first time and I was really excited about it. 

My neighbour had given me a littl seed propogator on Saturday and it seemed the perfect size for Corbyn and me to use.  We filled the tray with compost.  I tried to get Corbyn to get his hands dirty.  He is not really good at that, hates the feel of dirt or sand.  (that is very surprising to me!) But he did get brave enough to touch the soil a bit and spread the seeds around.  We chose a butterfly mixture of seeds, they are supposed to be planted where they will live, but that would not be as much fun for us.  Corbyn seemed to understand these seeds were not the ones the birds are supposed to eat.  He even called the propogator dome top a hat, so the birds would not "eat".  Let us hope the seeds do not take too long so he does not get impatient!

Another interesting thing about my grandson and then I will stop!

He seemds to use sign language, just a bit.  I think it is his own interpretation of signs though.  He and his Mum watch a children's show where they do use sign, but he never seems interested in signing.  But with things like "eat"  he motions his folded fingers toward his mouth - miming eating. 

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.  ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show