One of my favourite things about my 15 month old is that he is highly observational. Some of it is due to the fact that children are wired to be mini detectives to soak in the world around them so that they can learn and grow into functional human beings. But I think it is also just part of who he is as an individual and he's walking in the footsteps of his parents who both pride themselves on their observational skills.
I love taking Lincoln out for walks, and I do enjoy taking him to the shops. Now that he's a very confident walker I love letting him walk and explore and just watching everything through his eyes as he stops and takes his time to notice and interact with everything he comes across.
What makes his observational skills stand out is how he notices people. Every single person that he walks by, or walks by him, he looks at and observes...and as soon as they notice him back, he's ready with one of his very adorable smiles. Our trips to the shops always consist of dozens of conversations varying in length and depth with strangers who are captivated by his smile and big eyes and pause for a moment or stop for a longer chat with him and I.
If you haven't met Lincoln, he has literally been wide eyed since the moment of birth. Matt and I were both treated to beautiful big eyed gazes right from the very first minutes he was born, and many of his first visitors at the hospital were met with this wide eyed little bundle looking inquisitively at everyone and everything whenever he was awake (if I had a dollar for everyone who used the expression "he's been here before..."). His whole life has consisted of him believing that people are meant to be looked at and smiled at, particularly strangers whom he's never seen before.
The best part of watching him now walk around at the shops, which we were doing this morning, is seeing this cute little ray of sunshine work his way into the hearts of every single person who we come across. Whether he's running around in the play area, sitting eating some lunch, or walking in his meandering curious way through the shopping centre, he always stops to notice everyone around him. And he doesn't stop looking at that person until they're either out of eye sight, or they've noticed him as well and shared a smile with him. I love seeing how people's faces transform when they notice his smile. Matt and I both like to think that he's helping give a happy moment to someone who really needed something to smile about just at that time.
It's such a happy reminder seeing this innocent little one notice and show love to complete strangers every day regardless of age, race or gender...free of judgement or hate. I pray that the day his perception of the world is shattered is far far away or even non existent...that even as he grows and learns about the hardships of the world around him he continues to observe and notice others outside of himself and loves them for who they are, simply because.
