Pre-Pre-School Physics

One of the most exciting things about having a little baby is that I get to observe this little creature figure out life completely from scratch. I remember several months ago when Cambrie was just learning how to stand while holding onto something else. It was such a thrill of delight when I first saw her Balance herself by shifting her weight one direction when she was tipping in the other. How amazing! How did she figure that out? I didn't teach her or model it for her. I wasn't encouraging her, anxious to check it off her "latest accomplishments" list. I didn't sing a little song about shifting weight on your feet our counterbalancing or anything like I sing the ABCs. My baby was just a genius. :-)

Today I had that moment again. Cambrie is much more mobile now, and is adept at clambering all over things. She only needs to watch someone do something like open a drawer, take a damp sock from the washer and put it in the dryer, or even open a box of Cheerios and take a handful of little O's out before she's trying the same thing, and usually succeeding. But what she did this morning was just as inconspicuous and overrated as her balancing act months ago.

There is a cupboard with two doors underneath our TV downstairs. She's tried to open them several times, but they stick a little and they're hard to open for her. Patrick and I don't use them much, so she hasn't had much reason to investigate further. However, this morning, she tried to open them again. She pulled on the left door handle with her left hand. The door didn't budge. She pulled again. Still nothing. Finally, she brings up her right hand, braces it against the right cupboard door, and with this additional leverage, she pulls again. Voilà! It opens, and now I have to go save several old video tapes from being dumped out of their paper cases.

Yet again, where did she learn to gain that extra leverage? I wish I could pick up on fundamental physics that quickly! Still, it does seem a little pathetic; I feel like I should get a "My kid is a genius" bumper sticker because my daughter opened a cupboard door. *shrug* I guess it's okay to be proud as long as I don't get carried away, right?

[note to self: do not ridicule future Carlson babies if they don't learn the leverage trick until 15.5 months.]

Okay, I'm off to replace the contents of my purse that Cambrie has been rearranging all over the basement floor. I'll also post an unrelated picture just for fun. Au revoir!