One of the things that I enjoy doing most is spending time in the kitchen, usually with a knife and a cutting board. Today was a rainy day, so we found ourselves spending time indoors – playing with cars and staying busy in the kitchen. I made a curried egg salad, which unfortunately photographs like a steaming bowl of oatmeal with apples, but trust me, it’s egg salad. It’s a simple recipe, and while there is no egg salad better (in my humble opinion) than the egg salad piled high on a pretzel roll at Pickle’s Deli, this one is made with plain yogurt, curry spice and a handful of chopped apples, toasted pecans and onion. Simple, and easy and perfect for lunch. (Side note: when I went to add the link above I noticed Heidi’s egg salad photo looks so beautiful… and then I noticed the green and realized I forgot the chives. Also, if you are not cooking from this woman’s blog or cookbook you are missing out.)
Later on we found ourselves at the library – another good rainy day place, and fairly empty on a school day morning. While I checked out the books the little one sorted through large magnetic letters, coming over to me with each one.
“Z is for zipper. And ze-bah.” I’m amazed by the amount of information she’s soaking up, and I remember this same language explosion with E. She’s transferring information from puzzles and books and CD’s at home to a new set of toys at the library, and with each letter and corresponding word she announces my chest swells a bit more with this crazy kind of love. That kind of feeling you get when you witness the world opening up to your child, and their intense desire to soak it all up.
The best thing I think we found all day was this book. It was shelved among thousands of others, and while I scanned the book spines for familiar authors or interesting titles, she took books down one-by-one. (Oh the librarian saints that man the children’s floor.) All of a sudden she squealed and yelled “Ella Sarah”, and when I looked at the book in her hand I saw a book by the same author, with a title in a similar font, and two little girls illustrated in the same style as Ella Sarah Gets Dressed – a much-loved book we have at home. She plopped down immediately on the carpet and started “reading” – making up a story that wove the one she knew into the one she was looking at. When we got back home she went straight for this book in the bag, and when she flipped to the back fly leaf, there was a miniature image of the very book she has at home.
I simply adore children’s books – beyond the words of the story there are so many visual clues that connect ideas to shapes and sounds and characters and when your toddler starts to make those connections in the library – well, that’s a pretty terrific find.
I hope you found something exciting or learned something new today. Share below if you’d like, and if you’re near a library, check out one of these books. They’re both terrific.
Have a great weekend.