I was changing Emmett’s diaper two days ago when I looked down to see him smiling at me and sticking the tip of his tongue out of his mouth. “That’s a really funny, cute thing to do,” I thought to myself. Then I went right back to changing him.
The same thing happened the next day, also while changing Emmett. Again, I took note of the cuteness/silliness of the expression before continuing with the struggle of getting his thin little arms into his shirtsleeves. He kept it up. So I started doing it back to him, which he really seemed to dig. And it wasn’t until I mimicked him that I realized I had actually been sticking out my tongue the entire time I was changing him. And probably always have. It’s always been something I’ve done, subconsciously, during activities requiring some combination of fine motor skill and mental concentration, but I stopped paying attention to it long ago (it’s the only thing — aside from our Homo sapiens taxonomy — I share in common with Michael Jordan). The episodes were a good reminder of how much information toddlers pick up, even when it seems like they’re not paying attention. Crafty little buggers, they are.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, a video of Emmett being cute: