Picking Flowers

Abby loves to pick flowers. Dandelions, snap dragons, queen anne's lace, it doesn't matter what kind. Weed or not, they are all beautiful to her and she loves to pick them (and she smells them all too even if they don't have an odor).

But she especially loves my alyssum in a pot outside our front door. Every time we walk in or out, Abby has to stop and pick two alyssum, one for each hand. I must admit that when I'm in a hurry, this usually adorable behavior becomes somewhat irritating as Abby slowly picks out two flowers to carefully to bring with her. And she does not soon forget about them. These alyssum have come with her to the grocery store, to church, to Grandma's house, and one time they even took a swim with her in her pool and then a bath in the tub!

And all the while, Abby is very concerned that her precious flowers are well-hydrated...by giving them many "drinks" out of her sippy cup! "Flowers drinkin' Mama," she tells me, as she holds the petal-end toward her sippy cup. When we go into the house, she brings them to the kitchen table for me to put into a now ever-present vase filled with Abby's various flower treasures.

Abby also enjoys sharing her flowers with others. Frequently, she picks flowers for me. And as she hands them to me she says, "Tank you, Mama," which translated actually means, "Take this, Mama and then say 'Thank you, Abby'." For some reason, whenever she wants to give something to someone, she alerts them by saying, "Tank you, 'so-and-so'," and waits for them to thank her!

"Flower, Mama. Tank you, Mama."

All her picking does a pretty good job keeping the alyssum pruned back so that it keeps regrowing and will hopefully last for her to keep picking away for the rest of the summer and into early fall. Happy picking my future little gardener!