Ear?

Son #2 has been learning to identify different parts of the body.  We have a game that we play often.  I'll say.  "Show me your nose."  Then, Son #2 points to his nose.  I'll ask.  "Where's my nose?"  Then, he puts his finger on my nose.  Sometimes, I mix it up a bit by pointing to my mouth and asking.  "What's this?"  Most of the time, Son #2 will shout out.  "Mouf!"  We have a lot of fun playing this little game. 

When this game first began, Son #2 could only identify the ears.  He learned about the ears first because he used to hold my ear while I rocked him to sleep in the rocking chair.  His sleepy, little eyes would blink open and then close while he grasped my ear lobe with his tiny fingers.  I would laugh and whisper.  "Do you have my ear?"  Son #2 would pull at my ear and mumble.  "Earw."

Now, Son #2 is getting quite good at identifying different parts of his body.  However, he still loves to pull on my ear randomly throughout the day.  Sometimes, he reminds me of a honey bee in the vegetable garden flitting from flower to flower.  All of a sudden, the honey bee will abandon his game in the garden and rush over to a spot of honey hidden between two pieces of siding on the house.  There is no bee hive.  (We've checked.)  Yet, the bee sits on this spot of honey for a moment.  After the moment has passed, the honey bee will return to the garden to fly among the flowers once more.  I can only guess at what the bee is doing.  In my imagination, I can picture the bee playing among the flowers until it realizes that it needs to check its surroundings.  Then, it rushes over to the honey spot almost as if checking a map.  I can hear it buzzing.  "Bee #2 checking in.  Looks like everything is all clear.  Returning to the flowers.  Over and out."

When my youngest son stops a game to pull on my ear, I wonder if that is his way of checking in with the grown ups.  He will usually tug on one of my ears and then turn my head to pull on the other.  Then, he smiles at me with an impish grin and says.  "Ear?  Ear?"

I nod and assure him.  "Ear."

Then almost like the honey bee, he runs off to play with his toys again.