Toddler Concentration

I walked into the playroom on Wednesday and it was so quiet. We have had a quiet week, with children out on and off all week. I knew Sprout was in the playroom playing but she usually isn't so quiet, she is always singing, talking, counting, or making noises. So, when I peeked around the corner of the shelf and saw her playing with the little pegs and board, I had to get a photo. I ran around frantically (and as quiet as possible) looking for that darn camera... I can NEVER find it when I need it :) As you see though, I did find it and quickly snapped a photo, and Oh how I was rewarded when I saw it... that expression on her face is worth a thousand words. She is concentrating so hard. The tower must have fell 10 times before she started putting her hand up to hold it, and she soooo wanted to make a tall tower.

I really feel that if all the kids had been at school that day, she wouldn't have had the quiet and time to follow through on this endeavor. She was able to put the time in for trial and error and get to the end product. With no one bothering her, trying to do it with her or for her, and no one there to take the pieces away. Having that space sometimes is truly magical.

She looked up after I snapped the photo and had the biggest grin on her face, and said to me, "Look Michelle." (I love the way she says my whole name). I sat next to her and she showed me how she did it, completing the tower several more times, and then got up and tried to walk away, but we gathered the pegs up together and put it away. I noticed she took the pegs down at least once everyday after that, practicing and enjoying the taste of success. She is growing and learning so much, so fast.