Of Toby

Our daughter is finally to the age where she actually seems to understand what she sees on television - which is so strange to me.

Yesterday, while occupying our little one so Daddy and I could attempt to rest from our mutual illness, Netflix became a good friend (alright, honesty moment: Netflix became a good friend from about the moment of subscription - our daughter would agree because without aforementioned service she would never have met Dora or the Backyardigans - some of her own favorite playmates - sad, yes, but no point in trying to hide it, I suppose).  Trying to find something longer than the half-hour increments with which she is generally entertained, I flipped over to the "Family Friendly Movies" section and found "Astro Boy" - a movie (based on Japanese animé, as I would later discover) which follows a scientist through the death of his son, Toby, and the attempt to bring him back in robot form.

Let me tell you what happened when the killer robot demolished the original Toby.

"Tow-ee!!!  Where Tow-ee?!!!"

That's right, my daughter had not only learned the name of the boy but had noticed he was missing and that this was highly distressing.  She later noticed when he got "stuck" and when he was "all better."  And, today, when she wanted to watch Toby again, she got so excited to see his little animé face and yelled, "Tow-ee!  I love you, Tow-ee!"  That's right, her first crush - on an animé robot.

It's just astonishing to me that at two she's already able to follow a story-line, even in the in the most vague form.

Yet another sign.  She's growing up.