Toddler Tales: Associations (Brushes, Bluetooths, & Shox)

There have been a few recent instances where Toddler J has surprised me with his memory of a person that he has connected with an item that he associates specifically with that person.

A: Round Brush=Jen

When I chopped my hair off, I started to blow dry my hair with a round brush, which I had not done with long hair. One morning J saw me doing this and he said "That is Jen's." I was puzzled at first but spent some time working my brain around what he saw and what he said. Finally it clicked: he saw my sister-in-law Jen blow drying her hair with a round brush during our Christmas/New Years holiday in TN. That was probably the first time he saw that and this was the first time he noticed me doing it.

B: Blue Tooth=Sabrina

Last week I was preparing for a conference call meeting for Primary. Mr. H suggested I use his blackberry blue tooth set. He hadn't used it in awhile so I got it out to charge its batteries. I didn't end up using it, but left it on my nightstand. The next day, Toddler J saw it sitting out. He said "That is 'Bina's" ("Bina" is Sabrina) My friend, Sabrina, always uses her bluetooth hands-free device when she is talking on the phone. Often, she leaves it on her ear when she is busy doing things. He noticed it when he has been around Sabrina and when he saw Mr. H's sitting there, he assumed it was hers.

C: Shoe Shox: Lucas

This weekend we visited Mr. H's family in Kentucky. While there, Toddler J noticed the sets of shoes by the side door. He pointed to Papa's tennis shoes and said "Those Lucas' shoes". I looked at them and tried to piece it together. I knew they weren't Lucas' shoes...but why would he say that? Then it hit me--Papa's Nike tennis shoes had the same cylindrical shocks ("shox" in Nike terms) under the heal that Lucas' shoes had. He recognized that style of shoe and associated it with Lucas, who up to that point in our visit, he hadn't seen since our Christmas holiday visit.

Every time he makes a comment about someone or something, I try to figure out what he is referring to, so that I am not just saying "oh yeah, good job" at everything he says without knowing what he is thinking. It has turned into a fun game for ME to figure out what associations he is making in his awesome 2 year old brain.

These memory games have got to be good for my 31 year old brain as well, right?

Extra fun: Say "Lucas' Nike Shoe Shox" 5 times fast. Just try.