Baby sitting... My wife had a meeting last night in our home and one of her co-workers brought her toddler, Nathaniel. I was asked to watch him and keep him safely out of trouble. He is at that hands-on everything age. A few months ago it would have been the mouth on everything age, but the hands-on age actually lasts a very long time. He would turn the tub faucet on and off and on and off and on and off. He would stick his hands in the water, laugh, and do the whole thing over again.

I told his mother Kate, that he's likely to grow up to be a plumber. Kate gave me a shocked look like she'd never considered the possibility and that maybe her hopes are for something more. I just explained that he has a very strong aptitude for faucets and if you were to look at him from behind, he's got the crack for it. Nope, that really wasn't funny.

If anyone were to doubt for one moment the learning that takes place through the hands, just spend a few minutes with Nathaniel. It is intense. Everything must be touched and manipulated, whether it's the VCR door where you cram in tapes (and other things when no one is looking), any object left at the right height, or anything that can be reached by climbing. Despite what some people think... that the growth of the brain comes through language, it just ain't so. The hands are the driving force in the development of human intelligence. Just ask Nathaniel. He can't talk but he'll show you a few things.