When my son was growing up, we lived in a house which had a large dining room window with a bench running along under it on which I had numerous houseplants. One day when he was between 12 and 15 months old, my sweet little fellow toddled into the dining room as I was watering the plants. He seemed to be focused on my activity, so I said, "Do you know what I am doing? I am giving each of these plants a drink of water. You know how sometimes you get thirsty and need a drink. Well, plants get thirsty too, so I am giving them a drink."
He made no comment, and I didn't think about this brief conversation or have any reason to believe he had gleaned anything from it until the next day. As I walked through the dining room, I stopped in my tracks and burst out laughing. Each plant had a Ritz cracker tucked into its leaves.
If plants got thirsty like little boys, they must get hungry like little boys too.
I had been totally unaware of the box of crackers disappearing from the cupboard. He must have put them back when he finished "feeding" the plants. I was fascinated by the fact that a child so young understood what I had said and attempted to apply the concept. He obviously didn't get it quite right, but the very fact that he had attempted to adapt this new piece of knowledge, encouraged me to continue my chattering about anything and everything.
His curiosity and desire to adapt what he learned continued....he started college at the age of 13.
