High Five

March 13, 1995

Dear Trevor,

                  I thought you'd like to hear about our adventure in the supermarket yesterday.  When I put you in the seat in the shopping cart, we were opposite the check-out counters.  Each cash register boasts a lighted red circle with a number on top of a post.  We were in front of the five, and you called out "Five," in a clear, enthusiastic voice.  Then you noticed the others, and called them out in turn.  Each time, I repeated the number, not quite as loud as your happy exclamations.  It is a happy game for us.

                  We then went to the produce section, where, for the first time, you discovered there are numbers everywhere, and you called them out selectively.  It was as if you were had discovered a feast.  After that you discovered the big numbers above each aisle, and we sang out the aisle we were in and the neighboring aisles.  You had to swivel around in your seat to do this, but point and call is the name of the game, and you are great at it.

                  When we got back to the check-outs to pay, you were bright with delight that we were back among the big red signs with their large white numbers, and we did a call and repeat on the whole line of check-outs.

                  A woman in the line next to us was enjoying our game.  She asked me how old you were, and I told her you'd just turned nineteen months.  She was amazed.  "He's very young," she said, "to know his numbers so well."

                  I looked at you, and you were the image of Mr. Happy Satisfied. "Yeah, I said, “He's a bright guy."

                  "Enjoy him," she said.

                  I rocked my head like the Indian do, “What else? I said.

Love, Daddy