Backyard Lessons

It always amazes me how quickly kids learn things that are never taught to them. For instance, no one ever showed Cooper how to scream that particularly high-pitched, piercing scream and fall to the ground to get his sister to stop harassing him, and yet, he learned very quickly how to do it. And no one taught Em how to throw her hands up and say, "Emme NOT naughty Mommy!" a split second before I yell at her for being naughty, thus making me choke on a laugh, but she knows it.

Tonight, while the kids were playing in the yard, we learned of a few... additional things that made us smile and love our kids all the more. Both of them spent the better part of an hour giggling and playing, which was brilliant in and of itself. But then I realized a few things that made the time even better. Cooper has learned that when Em cuts in front of him, if he hurries right behind her, he can lick her arm. This tactic gets her to giggle at him and gives him a fighting chance to beat her to the ladder the next time around.

Em has learned that by standing at the bottom of the slide and leaning against it, she can effectively block Cooper's descent AND make him laugh so hard he just might fall over sideways (off the slide that is). Either way, they both laugh at this, the grandest of their games.

And lastly, Cooper has learned that if he gets close enough to the camera lens, his mom doesn't know if she should laugh, keep taking pictures, or scold him for touching something he knows is off-limits. I swear, he does it just to watch the wheels in my head turn!