Sweet Tooth

Alice was "helping" me update our emergency supplies and she discovered my stash of hard candy (striped mints and Werther's Original). They were all individually wrapped and she had never seen them before, so she didn't even know they were edible. She and I played with them all day, filling buckets, scooping them with spoons, stuffing them in bags and pockets, etc. After her nap, I'm lying on my bed reading while Alice is on her hands and knees next to me piling hard candies onto my nightstand. She stops suddenly and gets very still. She's facing away from me, so I can't tell exactly what has captured her interest so completely. I pretend to keep reading, but I've got one eye on her. I see her head turn slowly towards me and realize she has one eye on me. Her slim, sideways smile can only be described as pure, devious, joy. I smile back, out of curiosity, and she smiles wider revealing a juicy little unwrapped mint sitting on her tongue. Then I see the faint line of pink drool that has dripped down her chin and onto her shirt.

My first thought, "That's a lot of drool for such a short time with candy."

My second thought, "Is this her first experience with candy?"

My third thought, "HOLY COW! That's a serious choking hazard!"

Fortunately for all of us, her delighted smile is SO big that the candy falls out onto my bed and gets lost in the ripples of a loose bedspread. Especially fortunate for me, I see where it lands and throw it away before Alice begins her search. Easy come, easy go. She looks for a few seconds and then goes back to her piling game. A few seconds later, all the mints mysteriously disappear from her stacking pile (that's my doing). It takes a few HOURS for her to connect the dots and ask me to open one of the Werthers. Smart girl. Just for that, I cut off a smidge and give it to her, using the opportunity to teach her the sign for "candy." She can already say the word as well as she signs it, but it's fun to see her do it anyway :) She likes to do it with both pointer fingers, one on each cheek.

CANDY: Twist the tip of your index finger on your cheek.