Child development: theory vs practise

When I was at school, one of my favourite classes was child development.  I enjoyed learning about what it would be like to have a child, how it would grow and develop, but it was all theoretical, just words written in books.  Although I got an A without too much difficulty, nothing prepares you for the reality and the feelings of love and pride you will have in your child, even when they do the smallest thing which to anyone else would be of no significance.  Over the past few weeks I've been watching Aurora play a lot and just enjoying the experience, witnessing her learning and development firsdt hand, as it happens.  She has progressed from picking up toys, shaking them and then dropping them to actually playing with them, doing things with a purpose, developing her imagination through playing her own little games which no one understands but her.  One of her favourite things to do is play in the kitchen.  She opens the cupboard with the plates and bowls and gets out all the plastic ones (not the breakable ones though, she has figured out the difference and knows they are off limits).  At first it was just frustrating, having to pick it all up and put it away again several times a day so we don't trip over anything, but when I actually watched her play with them and what she did with them I realised she was learning.  She was learning about stacking, the difference in size, shape and colour.  When she tried to carry 3 bowl separately, she realised it was difficult, so she stopped and stacked them, making the task far easier.  She has also started stacking the coloured rings on one of her toys, rather than just tipping it up side down and leaving it, thinking that was what it was for.  She doesn't yet get them in the right order, but she is learning.  Same with her little wooden puzzles and her plastic farm and animals.  Another of her favourite things to do is pretend to be on the phone.  She loves playing with the actual phone or our mobiles, but also he toy phone and often hands it to me so I can pretend I'm talking to someone.  She often walks around the house the house holding some random object to her ear and talking.  I so wish I understood what she was saying.  One of the things I love most is when she walks up to me with a big smile and then hands me something she has found with such pride.  Items can vary from a toilet brush, a soggy peice of tissue, an empty packet she has got out the bin, or an item of clothing she has removed from a radiator or washing basket.  It's often inconvenient, but the look on her little face more than makes up for it.  It times like thios when I'm so glad I'm a stay at home mum.  I can't imagine leaving her every day and missing out on these moments, they are truly priceless.