Lost and found

Cell phones, hand held recorders, and digital cameras are big with the under three crowd.  Toddlers feel a certain glee at being able to change your ringtone, set an alarm to off in the middle of the night, or call someone with the tap of a button.

My Sony hand held recorder is my favorite gadget.  I take it everywhere, and of course, have recorded lots of special moments.  The recorder's hold switch locks the unit doing whatever it was doing, one reason why it's a perfect gadget for grandaughters Grayson and Avery to play with.   Can anyone tell me why toddlers turn handheld devices over and over and over?  Do they think whoever is making the sound is going to fall out?  As Anne blogged about earlier, Grayson visited Camp Toad Hall week before last. 

On the living room floor, laughing and playing, I figured this was as good as any time to record her happy voice, and so I gave her my Sony.  Locked in "play" mode, Grayson looked quizzically at the recorder, hearing her cousin saying what every dog says, "Huff, huff, huff, huff, huff, huff."  And yes, she turned it over and over and over as if expecting a little Avery (or a little dog!) to fall out. 

Grayson moved on to riding her little red Fire Truck that makes lots and lots of pre-recorded sounds at the tap of a button.  Then we moved on to blocks, reading, and then we went for a wagon ride. 

Come Monday, I couldn't find my Sony.  I figured I must have left it on my desk at work.  When I didn't find it on my desk, I figured it was in my car.  When it wasn't in my car, I figured it was in my top right drawer in the front hall table.  And when it wasn't in the drawer, I gave up.

Two weeks later, at home with my first bad head cold in several years; bleary eyed, I was lying on the soft staring at nothing, when I realized I was looking at the little red Fire Truck.  And then I remembered how Grayson had recently discovered that the Fire Truck has a trunk, the seat lifts up, and that she could stash her Little People, blocks, balls, and you guessed it, my Sony IC recorder.

Anne said, "You should have just asked her in the first place, after all she's a woman, and we both know women find things better than men."