Cha-ching!

I think I've hit the jackpot! I got Mary a toy from the drug store. It's called Playskool Busy Basics Form Fitter. It is a square with three shapes cut out of each side. There are nine pieces in different colors with a 3-D pattern (stripes, triangles, circles) to match the pattern on the side where it fits. There's one side that is a different color and it opens like a door so you can take the pieces out when you're finished. She played with it three times--I had to walk her through the first time--and then I set it aside while she ate lunch. After eating, she pointed to it on the table next to her and asked what it was (!), so I explained and set her up to play with it again. When she gets finished she sometimes asks me what now or I'll help her get them out and she asks what it is. I tell her it's like a game and a puzzle at the same time. She has been busy with it for at least an hour now. I'm so excited!

All the while she's working at it, she's making noises, which tells me she's occupied. Sometimes it's "uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh" or sometimes "uh-uh-uh-uh-uh" in a strange sort of "ti-do-re-mi-do" pattern. Lots of different noises. It's funny but I can tell when she's dropped or spilled something by the sound she starts making.

She just announced to me that she had them all in there. I asked if she knew how to get them out and she said no, so I told to find the green side. She found it and then I told her to find the shape that looked like a smile-y face and pull up on it. She pulled so hard, the whole door came off! She asked if she'd broken it, but I told her she couldn't break it unless she sat on it and then I put it back on. Then she asked, "Now what?" so I told her to find which piece fit where. I honestly think she doesn't remember, no, I just asked, she does not remember ever having done it before. Fascinating.

I just saw a blurb about a book at the library called _The Woman Who Can't Forget_. I told Mary about it and she said she thought that sounded wonderful, but I explained that it can be awful to have so much in your head and not be able to forget things. As long as you have someone you trust to look after you and Mary's easy-going temperament, then I guess it's better to be blissfully forgetful.

This is interesting, too. Mary is right-handed, but she's been putting the pieces in with her left hand, regardless of the fact that her left shoulder hurts her so much. Maybe her right hand shakes too much.