Prodigy

Hopesy has a new obsession: A plastic xylophone toy my parents gave her for Christmas. It's a standard-issue, nine-key, "Do, a Deer" affair that Hope has embraced after initially viewing as a big, red pacifier.

It's been nifty watching her progression the past 10 days. When she first got it at my sister's house in Connecticut, Hope didn't know what to make of the thing. She tipped it over, certain there was frosting or another yummy treat lurking on the other side. We played the keys, hoping she'd get the hint. She'd eat the mallet.

Soon, she realized that -- now, wait a minute here -- noises come from the thing when the keys are struck. That was a revelation. She'd smile, wave her arms, and then eat the mallet.

Eventually, she learned that she needs to hold the mallet and strike it with the keys. This was such terrific insight that she'd wave her arms as fast as she can, drop the mallet, pick it up and eat it.

But slowly, a bit more every day, her body is acting in concert with her mind. She'll grasp the mallet, strike the xylophone in quick, thunderous succession, giggle and laugh at the wonder of it all, before eating the mallet.

We think it's an early sign of prodigy. Or perhaps, finally, after lo these many months, she's teething. Either way, it's a great show.