Perception is Key

I was putting the dishes away from the dishwasher this afternoon. As usual, Owen was right there helping me. The bottom rack was done and now for the top rack. (We have two different sets of dishes. Adam likes one set - we'll call that set A - because of the cereal bowls. I don't like that set for the same reason. I prefer the other set - set B.) As Owen was unloading the different bowls, whenever he would pick up a bowl from set A, he would say "Dada". I didn't think much of it until he picked up a bowl from set B and said "Mama." He continued to recognize and distinguish out of which bowl each parent preferred to eat cereal.

I never knew a 2 year old could be so perceptive and would even bother to care or notice which bowl their parent preferred. I know kids are very aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them. What I didn't realize is how minutely aware of the details kids could be of their surroundings. Whoa!