A plus B does not always equal C, sometimes it equals 1,417

Natalie is so much fun lately - she's just like a little sponge, soaking up so many new things! She is learning so much we can hardly believe it! Since she's so interested in letters and numbers and doing fairly well with those, I figured it would be good to really try to introduce colors and shapes to her. She has a book called Apes and Shapes that has a wheel that you turn to choose the right shape for each page. I don't expect her to totally "get" that, but she likes to turn the wheel, so we turn the wheel and I try to label the shapes for her and see if she picks up on some of them. For some reason, she has picked up on "oval" from the start, but she is totally lost on all the other shapes. Here's a common exchange between us:

Me: What's this one? (it's a circle)
Nat: Um, ooful
Me: No, it's a circle.
Nat: Ohhhh yah!
Me: Can you say circle?
Nat: Sir-sil
Me: Good!

Then we go through a few more shapes, and end up back at the circle.
Me: Do you remember what this one is?
Nat: Ummm yah!
Me: OK, what is it?
Nat: Sare!
Me: No, not a square. What is it?
Nat: Ummmm . . . ZEBA!!!
Funny, I didn't realize that was a shape at all!

I am an accountant. I like math - although most accountants will tell you that's not a requirement for liking accounting because not that much of it is really math - but I do like it. I also like grammar. I like things that are black and white. I'm not a fan of shades of gray. I like things that have ONE answer - and to be frank, I like it when I find that ONE answer. Being aware of these things has helped me to come to a new realization. Although I could have told you almost two years ago when Natalie was a newborn that I didn't think my favorite time in her life was going to be the newborn months, I couldn't have told you exactly why. I didn't understand it, and I just didn't feel that my personality totally meshed with caring for a newborn. I now realize that it's because, when it comes to all things baby, A + B doesn't usually = C, and sometimes it = 1,417, which I never knew was an option. Or sometimes it = 704, which I thought could be an option, but thought that it was a long shot. Or maybe, just maybe, at the end of the day, A + B = "ZEBA!" Who knows?! Apparently, not me.