“I eat it?”

It’s one of my favorite Natalie phrases now – that and “I hold it?” She says each of them a dozen times a day – wanting to eat different foods, testing us before she puts a piece of fuzz or a lip balm cap in her mouth, or wanting to hold a puppy, baby, stuffed animal, or my personal favorite, the bank near our house. Yes, she asks to hold the bank every morning when we drive by. Sure, go for it, Natalie!

Last night, it was cookie dough. She helped me – truly helped, rather than watching like she has in the past – make a tiny batch of cookies. You know the kind…add butter and water to a little mix and viola, 10 minutes later almost like home-baked cookies! I handed her each of the ingredients and she poured them into a bowl, stirring with a giant spoon. And then the eating began, first little tastes of plain butter (eew, but she liked it), then the chocolate chips, then the batter – yikes, I had to take over stirring and get those cookies on the sheet before the little sweet potato ate it all!

Then it was all I could do to get her away from the oven while they baked. She cried a little and tried to pry open the door to save her precious cookie dough lumps inside. It’s nearly impossible trying to explain the art of “baking” to a toddler. And, oddly, when it came time to eat the cookies, she took a couple bits and was done. Obviously, she has a taste for the uncooked dough and not the final product.

I’ll try to post some photos later this week. Tonight I think we’re taking on muffins…just add milk!