Discovery

Lately Sam has been very interested in watching us work in the kitchen. Washing dishes or making a bowl of cereal is the most fascinating thing in the world to him. We've kept this room fairly off limits because we didn't feel like baby-proofing all the drawers and cabinets. Knowing that we were moving in less than a year, we just gated the doorway and made it a forbidden zone. That doesn't fly so well anymore, so he's been allowed to join us in the kitchen on occasion. He loves it if we hold him, so that he can see what we're doing up on that crazy, mysterious counter.

Yesterday we were in there so that I could put dishes away. All of a sudden, Sam lurched forward in my arms and reached out very enthusiastically towards something on the counter. Sam loves to eat hand fruit. Give the kid a peach and he's busy for an hour. Pears, plums, apples. It doesn't matter, he loves them all. Well, he had spied three ripe red tomatoes sitting there, and convinced that they were fruit of some kind, decided that they must be his. I explained to him that while they were indeed fruit, they were not sweet, and that he could have one if he still wanted. His repeated squeals of 'mine mine mine' accompanied with clapping was a pretty clear message that he wanted to give these rosy orbs a taste.

I dropped him into his high chair and handed over the goods. Watching him examine the specimen, it was clear he somehow understood that this thing was different. He turned it over in his hands, gave a few squeezes, and even sniffed at it. Finally, he was ready to take a bite. I heard a little pop when his sharp teeth broke through the shiny skin, and I watched his face intently to see his reaction. He puckered at first, and smacked his lips, but then he went in for more. His tongue darted out over the exposed flesh of the fruit, and then he sucked the juices. Although he didn't devour it like he does with other fruits, he spent the better part of fifteen minutes getting acquainted with this new food.

Later, as I was recounting the story for SOB, he told me that his sister used to eat tomatoes out of hand all the time as a tot. She would call them 'appies' and loved them above all else. He can't wait to come home tonight so that we can give Sam another tomato while he watches the unintentional impersonation.