Toddler. Brother. Hero.

Elliot is our fearless bug-picker-upper.  



Lucy sort of wants to pick up roly polies, but she doesn't actually want to put her fingers on them.  So she asks Elliot.  "Elliot -- you see that wo-wee po-yee?  Can you pick it up?  You see it?  Can you get it?"



And he does.  Actually, today he plucked a blade of grass and messed with the roly poly until it got into its little ball shape.  Then he picked it up.  I guess even Elliot has his limits when it comes to how many tiny insect legs he wants to touch. 


I lead music time sometimes for Lucy and her friends (and their younger siblings).  One of the songs beloved by all the kids is "Tap Your Sticks".  Lucy and Elliot found some sticks in the front yard, and Lucy began singing the song...



"Tap your sticks in the air with a 1-2-3.  Tap your sticks on the floor with a 1-2-3"



"Rub your sticks together..."



"Shake them high above you.  Pass them both behind you..."

And then something terrible happened.  Lucy dropped her stick through the little hole in the plastic sprinkler box, and the stick was gone.



Can you see the horror?  Can you feel it?  This moment lasted about 3 seconds.



And then Elliot fixed everything.  He found another stick!



And he brought it to his big sister.  And a new game was created...



"Shove-the-sticks-through-the-hole"



It's a wonderful game.  With very simple rules.  Shove sticks through the hole.
 

When you run out of sticks, you can send your brother to find more.
 

Here's to salvaged front yard bliss and real life toddler heroes.