Exuberant, determined ignorance is bliss

We all love babies because of their chubby cheeks and button noses. Beyond that, we love them for their excited, intense, blatant wrongness. What fun it is to watch a brand-new person live the life we're all old pros at. How nice to have someone to laugh at in the name of cuteness, before they're old enough to get their feelings hurt. Do we all love babies because they make us feel better about ourselves?

Take Kalina, for instance. She twirls on command, transfers Daddy's credit cards from his wallet to the towel drawer in the kitchen, and occasionally tries to eat rocks. The girl is clearly not worried about what anyone else thinks.

Even better, Kalina doesn't just nonchalantly mash her beans into her hair--she does it with gusto. The same way she demands the camel puppet never leave Daddy's hand (even when she's done playing with it) and confidently proclaims "BAAWAAABAAAWAAAH" through the entire grocery store.

I laugh, and she joins in, looking sideways to see if Panda and Lamby are laughing too and wondering what the joke is. It's probably a good thing she will only remember these years through the rosy pages of her baby book.

Poor girl. She has to be taught, or learn through osmosis, every teeny tiny morsel of social custom, safety and life skills she needs to thrive in adulthood. We start with figuring out that shoes go on your feet, not in your mouth, and will eventually work on long division (which will unfortunately be much less useful than almost everything she's learned so far, including the fact that elephants go "stomp, stomp.").

And she tries so hard. To haul around household objects that are twice her weight, to remove the refrigerator door from the refrigerator (without proper tools) and to walk up the stairs just like Mommy even though her knees would work much better since she's so short. There's just no telling her, though. Either she doesn't listen, doesn't respect my advice, doesn't understand, or a combination of these.

I suppose it's fair for us all to get a good laugh with Kalina (please, not at her). After all, we each were responsible for similar mirth in our own time. What goes around, comes around, right?

Most importantly, Kalina seems happy in her role. There's nothing she likes better than flopping exuberantly onto every pillow she sees, sneaking wood chips from the playground into her mouth and sucking on them, and rummaging through the recycle bin for new toys. So we'll let her have her fun, and she will, apparently, let us have ours.