Annika Alone

Lauren ended up spending the day with a friend, and Annika was alone with Bill and me most the day. It was fun, for all of us. And it never ceases to amaze me how different (and yet the same!) Annika is when we have one on one time.

We played with her GeoTrax and played checkers and then she agreed to go outside and draw some. Part of my nature study I am working on with the girls. Lauren loves this, and eagerly agrees to virtually anything I suggest. Annika, not so much. But today was different, today she was so excited to go out and observe our yard.

I started off by asking her to find something interesting - thinking I'd follow her lead. Well, apparently everything was interesting to her. "This stick is interesting. I'll draw that," she says, spying a small twig on the ground.

OK, I think, I'll just ask her to describe the stick. One of my main reasons for doing nature study with her is to help improve her observation skills. So she said the stick was black, brown, grey and spotty. She was right, it was all of those things. I would have added that some of the bark was peeling off, but whatever, she got the gist of it.

"Hey, look at this flower. This is interesting," she says, noting a pansy that has suddenly sprouted out of the ground.

And she draws the flower and the leaf - complete with veins and stalk. Good job kiddo! (the long lines are the stick from earlier.)

And off we walk through the yard some more. "Look at all the leaves; they are interesting." she notes. And she draws the leaves. Not individually, but as a group. "It is a herd of leaves," she says, with complete sincerity! I almost bust a gut trying not to laugh. "You can rake them up." was another observation she volunteered to me. "But they are wet now, so we can't."

I then directed her to this tree that I am trying to identify, but can't. I figured I'd see what she notices about it, then maybe we can plug this information into the Internet somehow and figure out what it is. (I feel dumb for not knowing what it is, but I really do not know!) So she looks up and says "Interesting, it still has leaves on it." She is right, not only is it the only tree left with leaves, but most of them are still green!


She notices the small fruits on the tree but that is about it. So I say something about taking a closer look, trying to encourage her to notice the details in the tree itself. Silly me!

After realizing she was literally getting a *closer* look, I asked for specific words to describe the tree. She noticed the "lines" in the bark, saying it was black, but that the moss or lichen looked blue. That amazed her - blue bark.

Then she actually looked up some, and noticed the "circle" on the tree.(doesn't it look like a butt?!) "I wonder why that is there?" she asked out loud. She was not looking for an answer, just a rhetorical question, so I let it be, trying to keep the investigative mindset going.

She drew the tree trunk, nothing else. But it was complete with lines and a circle. Then she found some leaves within her reach and took one off. She went inside our climbing structure and proceeded to draw the leaf she took. She spent about 10 minutes really looking at that leaf and drawing all the details. I was impressed!

By now I was cold, as the wind was quite strong. I suggested going inside, but she wanted to continue. OK!

She found a young maple tree we found in our garden last year, and planted in the spot where an old dead ash tree used to be. "Hey look! There is only one leaf on this tree!" she said, and proceeded to draw that tree and one leaf.

I must confess - it looks a lot like the real tree!! I was beyond impressed. By this time I suggested hot chocolate, and of course she ran inside eager for hot chocolate. (and proceeded to forget about it by the time she got inside and disrobed. short memory span on that one!)

I was so utterly impressed with her ability to concentrate and pay attention to detail; she is rarely that focused, and never with Lauren around. It was an interesting insight into her little brain. I enjoyed the adventure quite a bit!