Lottie turned a new page in her little life when she
discovered she could move the kitchen stool in front of the refrigerator.
Then she learned she could open the fridge and
find the Tupperware of cooked steel-cut oats and the soy milk and cream.
Then she realized she could get a bowl in the drawer with a spoon
and spoon herself out a nice helping of oatmeal,
then pour the soymilk into the bowl and add a little touch of cream.
Next, Lottie learned to pull the stool to another counter where we keep the
honey to add a nice glob of the sticky "bee throw-up"
(as she calls it) to her little bowl of oatmeal.
Then Lottie gets stuck.
She doesn't complete the finishing steps of her oatmeal discovery
because she needs to learn how to use the microwave to warm it up.
Her big sister (and mentor), Claire, comes in here.
One day Claire watched this process and saw
Lottie struggle at the microwave.
So Claire made a key code for Lottie to use and then
taped the paper codes on the microwave buttons.
This showed Lottie exactly what button to push and in what order
for delicious oatmeal at the perfect temperature.
It's pretty incredible as a mother watching my youngest child work through
and figure out something challenging.
But turns out that watching my oldest teach my youngest
how to figure out something challenging and valuable
is amazingly rewarding.
Now I find little bowls of oatmeal all over the house that Lottie
has prepared- just because she can.
