My Growing Love

She won’t speak to me, yet
sometimes her face
lights up with laughter
as she shrewdly observes
my endless antics
designed only to delight her
as she has delighted me
since the moment
we first met.

Yesterday, however,
we toddled forward
in our relationship as
she, for the first time,
offered her naked
foot and an excited giggle
in response to my offering
a single sock as we
we sat on the floor
by the back door
getting ready to go outside.

Sox have fascinated her
for several weeks now.
She’ll persistently pull
them off her feet and
present them to any
available caretaker
who must learn
to hold them open
while she inserts each
completely tiny hand
into the proffered warm
and inviting darkness.
She then unstably parades
proudly on bare feet
with socked hands
until curiosity gets
the better of her again
and she pulls each socked hand
free once more.

Determined in her fashion
choices at her tender age
of a few months beyond
one year, at daycare the
other day, unable to
remove her own sox
due to the elastic intentions
of her clever parents,
she turned to a younger
friend who lay unaware
and removed said friend’s
socks to wear on her hands.
Though, reportedly, the
friend didn’t object, the
teacher was eventually
required to restore order
and maintain the property rights
of even the smallest.

But, yesterday, when
she lifted the second
bare foot and then
each socked foot once
again for miniature pink
and white sneakers,
I felt we had reached
a new milestone
of common understanding.
Without words she grocks
‘going outside for a walk’
and is overjoyed to
adventure out into
the warm fall afternoon
in the company of
her besotted grandfather.