A numbers game
Leta's favorite bedtime books are not the ones that tell stories, but rather ones that allow her to show off her amazing sense of recall. She loves alphabet books where she has to identify every object on the page -- there's the apple and the airplane and the avocado, except she says the apple, the hairplane, and the cahnnocado. She enjoys pointing to all the animals on their respective pages, tiger on the T page, lion on the L page, mangaroo on page K. Our neighbor was clearing out her children's toys a few weeks ago and gave Leta a small, plastic Noah's Ark with a slew of animals. Leta went through and named off every animal, and when she got to the miniature Noah she stopped short and looked at me to give her a clue. Before I could explain who he was she held him up and said, "Monkey!" Ah-Ha! A toy based on the Bible is teaching my daughter about evolution. That, Alanis Morissette, is sweet, sweet irony.
She's also a huge fan of number books, particularly ones that ask, "How many [object X] do you see?" Last night we were reading one of these books, and she pointed out that there was one bunny, two ducks, and three bears. I told her those were not bears, they were mice made to look much larger than they are in reality. She said blankly, "Bears." I corrected her again and told her no, those were definitely mice, although I could see how she could think otherwise. She said, "Okay. Bears and mice." Thank you, international diplomat.
Numbers are now her passion, and she spends most of her day counting everything -- the number of shoes in the room, the toes on her feet, the steps leading up to the house. During mealtime she will count the number of items on her plate -- four pieces of chicken that she won't eat, five peanut butter crackers that she will not touch. On the rare occasion that she does complete a meal, we will sprinkle a few M&M's on her tray, usually four, and ask her to count them. Last night she pointed to each one and counted slowly, "One! ... Two! ... Three! ... Four!" And then she moved her finger back to the first one, closed her eyes and kept going, "Five! ... Six! ... Seven! ... Eight!" She was willing them with the power of her brain to multiply.
One of her favorite games to play now involves counting, and out of nowhere she'll yell out a number and wait for one of us to yell out the next number in sequence. She would continue doing this for eternity if she could count that high, and also if she didn't take the numbers so personally. Numbers 1 through 10 are all her own, her good friends, solid numbers she can trust. 11 through 20 make her absolutely giddy and breathless as if they are sharing their Twizzlers with her. But something happened between her and the numbers 21 through 30, something devastating and unforgivable, she doesn't like to talk about it. 30 through 40 are dead to her, don't even bring those up. And 40 through 50 are in grave danger, and it is her duty to warn them. The kid won't ever make it to 100 because the emotional exhaustion will kill her first.
Watch Heather discuss her feelings about vaccinations on this episode of Momversation.
1. Samantha said:
If only I were that invested in numbers at such a young age, I might not have failed Algebra......twice. You warn the 50's Leta!
2. Torrie said:
You have finally done it.
I am dead from the cuteness.
I must now go read Bucky's site to search for something disgusting to revive me.
3. Womanwithkids said:
I love that Noah's Ark taught Leta evolution... That's perfect!
And seriously, if she thinks about those M&Ms hard enough, it just may happen.
4. brandy said:
Did you hear that? That was the sound of my biological clocks alarm.
Time to start teaching her how to add! Then you can send her to the store for a loaf of bread, a stick of butter and a quart of milk.
Super cute!
Thank you for sharing!
5. Rose said:
Would Leta mind balancing my chequebook for me?
Adorable video. Thank you for sharing!
6. Sandy said:
She's the cutest little genius ever!
7. Jeni said:
I fear you have a future OCD child on your hands. The counting...it never stops.
8. Suz said:
I'm sure you wish she got that excited over other things, like eating dinner or using the potty.
But the counting thing is *way* cute.
9. carrie said:
Ah, Leta, the numbers over 30 are dead to me as well.
My oldest nephew refused to say the letter "L" when reciting the alphabet at Leta's age. And he'd get angry if you happened to mention it to him. I'm not sure what went down between him and L but it apparently wasn't pretty.
10. MsMamma said:
Love it! Snowflake has a thing for thirty, like he'll have some change and say "I have thirty bucks mama!" or his classic, no matter what the temp is, "It's thirty degrees!"
11. Daisy said:
Just too cute!!
12. Katie said:
I have to agree that little video makes my biological clock TICK TICK TICK away!! She is the cutest!!!
13. katehopeeden said:
My Trin does that getting lost thing in the teens as well.
She's good with eleven and twelve and then it's "teen" for a good two or three minutes.
But Leta's doing great! My kids couldn't ever count into forty anything before school! Good Job Heather :)
Now, start spanish and french.
Trin can do up to ten in spanish, french, english and italian :)
~K
14. Brooke said:
What is that she's playing with? It looks like... a thong?!
15. jw said:
She's so cute!
Now, if you are taking requests, I think there is NOTHING more darling than a little one saying the word "purple." Their nose squishes up, their mouths twist around.
So, if you please, how about a video of Leta saying "purple." It could end the war, stop famine and disease, and make us all live as brothers and sisters.
No pressure there!
16. Sophia said:
Adorable! And do I detect a hint of a southern twang in the wee's one's voice? ;)
17. Ashley said:
Smart, adorable, and dramatic?
I am just waiting for her to take over the world.
18. Valerie said:
She's so adorable. Give me two! No, three! No wait, four!
19. bigmcmommy said:
Just wait until you get to "eleventeen", that comes right after fourteen.
20. Second Half said:
I just played the video clip and the kids came running. Ella just smiled - as if Leta was her own daughter/baby. Harry said, "She's a little bit good at that. No...she'a a lot bit good. She can count past TWENTY!!"
Thought you'd appreciate their approval.
21. katiebarthedoor said:
Just when it seemed she couldn't get any cuter...
I loved brandy's (intentional?) reference to that famous Sesame Street clip, "loaf of bread, container of milk, stick of butter."
This site has an awesome list of old Sesame street video clips that were popular in the 70s/80s, with the "loaf of bread" clip listed first:
http://www.foldedspace.org/weblog/2006/04/sesame_street_video_clips.html
Dooce - there are TONS of old counting clips that Leta would love on there.
22. ritsgirl said:
That's good counting.
If the 30's don't start treating me with a little more respect then they will be dead to me too,Leta.
23. William said:
I got stuck on [object x] I never did well with Algebra.
Great video.
24. kellyjoco said:
OOooohh I feel terrible I don't think my soon to be three year old can count to twenty yet! (I know that was not your intention, to make me feel like I should be counting more with my youngest..) However, her favorite color is purple and she says so all day long, "its purple, MY LOVE IT!"
25. Mack'sMom said:
Dear Leta:
Numbers 30 and above don't really exsist...once you hit 29 it never goes anywhere. So Mommy and Daddy are both 29! In ten years from now, they will still be 29 and you'll be 12!
My daughter counts....1, 2,5!!!!! We can't go any further because she's so excited about the number five!
26. MelanieinOrygun said:
YESSS! on the irony. Noah Teaches Evolution: A Learning Toy!
That fucking rocks.
27. Holly L said:
Holy crap that was cute.
28. timothyjlambert said:
Suddenly I want to hear Leta's counting with a techno track behind it.
29. lindsayc said:
godness she is a great counter! how did you teach this to her? my son is totally not interested in counting, although he is only 15 months old. did you line thing up or count fingers etc,? just wondering.
30. Jamie said:
I was wondering how I could teach my son about evolution, where can I get my hands on that Noah's Ark toy?
Leta is too damn cute! Love the videos!
31. Vicky said:
Oh my God, she said 'Twenny' Heather, she said 'Twenny'! You child is... American. Woah.
32. courtney said:
She's very smart! So cute.
33. Brian said:
I love that she pronounces a "K" word--kangaroo--with an "M" sound, while reading an alphabet book.
I'm surprised she didn't tell you that mangaroo should be on the "M" page.
34. Pioneer Woman said:
Dang. As the mother of four children whom I always believe to be on the genius side of smart, I'm pretty impressed with this. My 3 1/2 year old isn't past 30, and even that gets mangled quite a bit.
35. Amy D. said:
Fucking-A-Right that is cute! I used to count anything and everything when I was a kid.....back then, everything seemed to add up nicely; it just seemed like everything made proper sense. Sensible OCD. There was nothing I couldn't understand or figure out. Just keep her away from calculus and large amounts of marijuana. I think that's where I lost it!
36. CJ said:
That was most excellent.
One thing I would do with my 2 year old is count fingers when driving (Leta is clearly past that unless I have several additional people for getting up to 40/28). Be sure you also point out zero -- like holding up your hand with no fingers out. It's not *nothing*; it's zero. Does Leta have the Schoolhouse Rock DVD? My younger asks for 'hero zero' and it just warms my heart.
The back and forth was cute as well. It was like she didn't want you to get the last number in!
37. phoeber said:
How odd that kids seem to have it in for numbers. Perp won't say 5. Or five. I have no idea what AMP is saying but I'm willing to guess, based on the above evidence, that it's something like, "FUCK you, seventeen! You and the horsie you rode in on!"
Weird little creatures, ain't they?
38. sasha said:
Bears and mice. Don't you love how they humor us?
39. RS said:
I like the part towards the end when she's holding up her arms in the "I won the prize-fight...winner and still 'champeen'" pose. Excellent!
40. shannon said:
Cute sure, but I think "damn that's one smart kid" is a little more on target. Wow.
41. jes said:
I was an English major, and as required, hated math.
Number games. Perhaps this will be stepping stones to actually liking math, and thus getting a degree that will allow her to actually do something useful with her time, unlike me.
42. k said:
Is she doing an Edith Bunker imitation during 1-10?
Damn that girl is cute.
43. smoness said:
No counting your M&Ms until you finish your cahnnocado! --Very fun and cute!
44. rch7279 said:
What is she playing with? It looks like a thong!
so cute.
45. Daugher In Law said:
I agree with Leta, it seemed age 48 came RIGHT after 39, without any warning whatsoever. How sneaky!
46. JeniG said:
That is just too cute. I love you describing her emotions, 20 - 30 have really done something to her, Heather. You should probably check up on that.
Also, I thought it was a thong at first too that she is playing with, but at second glance I think it may be Jon's headlamp, which makes me laugh and think of drunken underpants remodeling.
I read this too often!
47. Ang said:
Very impressive! : )
48. hessie said:
oh. my. god. my ovaries just wept. so cute.
49. HullCove said:
A budding mathmetician...
50. jenB said:
please send paramedics. i am impaired by the adorableness of that video. can't. breathe.
51. Pnutsugar said:
It doesn't look like a thong...unless there'a a battery pack attached (which I'm sure there is such a thing out there...somewhere!)
Looks like the electric "correction" (eh-hmm) collar the hubby bought for our totally rambunctious Lab pup, which could account for how well Leta recites those numbers ;)
She's very cute and smart...and her mother's writings have made me chuckle and smirk (smirking a lot!) quite often since I tripped over her blog.
52. Jem said:
I love the your daughter says 'fwee', like my niece.
53. Jem said:
'the'? Of course I meant 'that'.
It seems the preview button is dead to me.
54. Beachgal said:
That is so awesome...i'm lucky my kid makes it to TEN and he's older. i have so much work to do. Way to go Leta!
55. bellybuttonbugs said:
She is absolutely positively adorable. Can you please clone her for me? I want one of those!
56. katem9579 said:
I made the mistake of letting my daughter who is the same age as Leta watch that video. She has now made me watch it atleast 20 times and now she does all the arm motions and numbers almong with her. She keeps grabbing the mouse now as I am typing saying "baby count...BABY COUNT!!!!!!!!!!! So here we are off to watch it again. I will remember this next time.
57. Creatrix said:
I know every parent thinks her child is the smartest, cutest etc., but you're justified.
58. Brad Martin said:
The real value of a degree in philosophy: I'll never use any of those numbers again. I've forgotten most of them already.
You should sell a video of Leta counting and saying her letters. I'll bet she could help younger kids learn.
59. adfmay said:
just wanted to say that i love how you 'schooled' alanis on what irony actually means. that song bugs me to no end.
60. Candice said:
Ohhh! That made me giggle! She's way too cute.
61. Claudia said:
Your baby is too smart :D And so SO cute.
62. laurellz said:
hahaha too cute!!
63. Tiggerlane said:
Video evidence of Sesame Street paying off in a BIG way!
I love how her voice raises in pitch as she recites numbers 40 - 50...the anticipation!!
Tell her to get more excited when she says, "Twenty-one." She seemed dejected - gotta nurture her inner blackjack player.
64. AndreaBT said:
I was impressed that my own daughter could count to 20 at that age. And Leta can get to FIFTY!! She is such a little smartie. And in that very last few frames, she looks JUST. LIKE. JON.
65. Janice said:
I never knew the emotional ramifactions of counting.
66. ieatcrayonz said:
Is that normal because my daughter can barely count to ten and she always skips number four. She's twenty-two.
67. Christina Shaver said:
She can count to 50??????? I'm shocked and amazed. Whoa.
68. JustLinda said:
My 2 year old can't count in English but she does okay in Spanish (that Dora, she's quite the little teacher, eh?).
My four year old is smarter than ALL her peers. Yes, it's true. She can count the highest of them all. I'm not kidding you at all. She'll plow right through all those numbers right on up to eleventy-twelve. I'm guessing most of you reading this don't even know how to count up to eleventy-twelve. It's not easy, I can tell you that. She struggles and has to find a new route to it every single time. Flippin' GENIUS, she is.
69. Catherine said:
Not only is she brilliant but her cuteness has struck me dumb. I know you will understand and not take any offense when I say that we must eat her.
70. Dr. Dave said:
Better still, tell her the guy with the beard is "Mr. Darwin" and the boat is named "The Beagle".
71. Diesel said:
Damn, that girl can COUNT!
72. Amy D. said:
I always thought eleventeen sounded like it had to exist somewhere....right next to eleventytwelve, huh? love it!
73. Heidi said:
Wow! Leta is one smart cookie! Love the potty in the background. The potty acts like a piece of furniture here too.
74. Emily said:
I think I just ovulated.
She is too cute.
75. rivetergirl said:
Damn, that's a pretty smart kiddo. Y'all lookin' to sell her? She could proly fetch a pretty penny from the Mensa crowd.
76. ebethneu said:
This is really strange, my oldest daughter Ava who is 2 1/2 does the same thing with counting!
She counts everything, and will shout out numbers wanting us to start counting.
I just thought it was her.
77. Samantha Y. said:
Okay, now that she's got the counting thing down, surely she can fix her Mama a hot dog.
78. Lauren said:
That is cute, but that is also dedicated parenting :)
79. Amy said:
Hmmm - I'm pretty sure your daughter is not old enough to be able to do that. I'm serious. You better start reading up on raising a genius.
80. signot said:
So cute! You know, if you watch it without sound, it looks like she's telling someone off and enjoying it ;)
81. Elle said:
I'm already pregnant. How is it possible that seeing that LITTLE FACE with those EYELASHES makes want to get pregnant again?!
82. Mary Dawn said:
i can't even get my two year old to count to five!!!
i'm so jealous...can leta be her tutor?
83. Wicked H said:
Mensa called, they are waitng for Leta.
So proud of the frog princess. Go Leta. GO!!!!
84. far and away the farthest said:
Don't you just love it. My grandson has this enormous alphabet book of foods which he lovingly reads over and over. His pronunciation is strange as well. But my favorite thing right now is part of his singing repertoire. His folks call it his I've Been Working on the Railroad /Old McDonald Medley... the important section is Fee, fie, fiddly IEIEIO.
85. wrensuicide said:
I am also curious about what Leta is holding. But it looks like a dog collar or a belt to me, not a thong.
86. Machine 'O' Doom said:
Nice job giving your child an interest in learning stuff.
Now no one can question you as parents. The cookies at breakfast HELP HER LEARN. Hehe...
87. ColleenS said:
Cute! And smart too!
Has Leta gotten her hair cut?
As for what she's holding, I say maybe some kind of exercise heart rate monitor?
88. Pascha said:
How in the hell doy you resist the urge to slather her in barbecue sauce and swallow her whole? My god...
...or is that just me? I admit, I want to eat your baby right up.
When my niece was that age, she could count to 100, but she hated doing it...so we started bribing her. We would give her one penny for every number she counted. The goal was to give her $1 for counting to 100. Whenever she did it, she was so excited that we HAD to go to the store right then. She would proudly announce to the cashier that she was buying candy because she counted to 100 and got $1 for it. She was so damn cute about it that they would almost always give her candy for free and tell her to save her $1 to buy toys.
I swear, that grin she would get could bring world peace.
89. Zazzy said:
She is way, way too cute.
90. Nat W. said:
Why do you insist on doing this to my uterus??
91. butterfrei said:
erm, so random, but have to say that,
Leta's arm swing reminded me of a dedicated maoist youth indocrinating newly relocated farm-slaves/old peasants on the benefits of collective, strong numbers...know your numbers!
and maybe you will have some m&ms...or feel the lash of this old belt I'm innocently twirling.
yeah, sorry...strange, i know
92. Kelsey said:
The audio on that movie made my 19-month-old, who was screaming out the window to our dog in the yard, stop dead in her tracks. Then she laid down a little "sis, sesen, et!" She's a got a long way to go to catch up with Leta. Brilliant!
93. Gora_Kagaz said:
haha...too funny and too cute! i love how her tone changes with each set of numbers.
94. becky said:
ho.ly.shit.
amazing on so many levels!!
95. Bird Lover said:
Nothing profound to add to the post. Just wanted to say "Oh, my godness." The cuteness makes me smile.
96. Carole Karnofski said:
I have been trying to use telekinesis to make M&M's multiply for years now without success. Have Leta get back to me when she unlocks the secret.
97. Fog Spinner said:
My son had no 17-19 until half way through kindergarden. It was like they didn't exsist. You could point them out to him and he would flat deny their exsistance. I told him once.... yeah you think this now.. wait till your 16.
98. Shalini said:
I love the way she says ELEVEN!!!! way too cute!
She looks really upset when she was in the late 20s... but still so genuis-like!
99. OneBabyMama said:
I finally registered with typekey. I can't NOT comment anymore!
She is such a treasure, Heather. And damn dude, she blows my little one away with the numbers! He counts to ten...if we're lucky. Haha.
But he can sing pretty much every song we play for him...ON KEY. I'll take what I can get!
Anyway, yeah. I've been reading for a while now. You freakin' RULE.
100. TiffyWiffyPooPooWanna said:
What do mangaroos taste like? I really, really want one.
101. Erin Fritz said:
My first thought was "is that a THONG she's holding". But upon further examination, I've decided that, yes. It is a battery-packed thong.
Playing with a battery-packed thong AND counting. Way to go, Leta! You're WAY more mature than you should be!
102. lizzybored'n said:
Oh so cute! My 2 year old daughter saw me watching it, and burst out laughing. Then she kept repeating (like a savant) BABY MORE! BABY MORE! I must have played that video clip 25 times just to keep her entertained. Later, during a tantrum melt down getting her out of the carseat, I said "wanna see baby more?" And she declared "Yaaaaaahh!" Thanks Dooce for making my day just a teeny bit easier! PS. I'm the gal you met in Liberty Park at the fountains the other day.
103. Heidi Nelle said:
Ooh, she's adorable! And that's saying something, cause I usually don't like children :P
104. vicki said:
oh why did you do that? All of my childrens toddler years came rushing back at me like a nightmare that I can not get rid of...Groundhogs day revisited.
ABCD,JK,NM,VP,LKJM,1234,9786, and so on it went on for days, weeks, months and now one is in the gifted program and the other still won't shut up.
Drugs must have drugs....
Thanks for the memories....
105. Missy said:
Very, very cute. She is really advanced for her age, I think...my little boy didn't count that high until he was 3 1/2 or so. Sweet girl, Dooce!
106. Kissyface said:
at some point, you should get her those I Spy books.
107. SMKN70 said:
Very good, Leta!
As a mom of three, I can tell you with authority that she's counting great for her age :)
108. ikkepagrasset said:
I just watched the video, and from the other room my dad yelled, "Is that Leta counting?" It's weird, because my dad is practically deaf and I wasn't aware that he read your site. I guess it runs in the family.
109. Ktkat said:
I ADORE how she says fifty... FIH-YI! As if she is so relieved to reach that pinnacle!
The cuteness factor is off the charts!
110. thleen said:
It is so cool that she called Noah a monkey.
111. Ramona said:
She should totally be given a bullhorn during the New Year's Eve countdown.
112. PrincessMo said:
I'm sure she can get through the devistation obviously wrought by 20-30, but she may need long-term counseling for 30-40.
Also, for the first few frames of this clip, it looks for all the world like she is swinging around a thong while counting. I'm just sayin. ;-P
113. The Barb said:
Just "Ah!" Takes my breath away.
114. Wendell77 said:
I don't know, it sounds like Leta has a Brooklyn accent! Super cute.
115. Flubberwinkle said:
I love how her little voice escalates as the numbers rise, creating a sense of suspense!
116. Alexandrialeigh said:
I love how she says: FIFTY!
So cute. She can come count my gray hairs any day. Hopefully she won't get past ten.
117. elsa marie said:
As a mother I can see right through the humor in your posts. You love that child more than life itself. Me-I'm not so transparent. Both of my kids blew their noses on my t-shirt today.
Oh, and I think you're the funniest woman alive. No pressure or anything. ;)
118. Cindi in Illinois said:
She is doing great! Gotta admit that as soon as the clip began, I thought she was holding a black thong. Like another commenter said, upon a second look it looks like a thong with a battery pack.
Re. counting...I have discovered that every time you put up one of these adoreable Leta clips I find myself going to your comment section and counting how many cases of spontaneous ovary combustion I will surely find!
Leta is really going to wow her teachers when she starts school...that's for sure! Mommy and Daddy you are doing a great job with your cutie-pie.
119. Elizabeth said:
OMG. That is the freaking cutest video EVER!! What a precocious cutie!
120. Aimee said:
I've always thought that 48 should come twice. It's such a good, solid, even number.
121. Carol said:
OK, first, she's freaking adorable. And second, I have a daughter (my 3rd child, mind you) who I think is really smart and ahead of the game but she is no where near Leta developmentally. And third, I have a 6 year old who just completed Kindy and he only recently figured out how to count past 30.
You are doing a great job, Heather! Keep it up!