Two stories about math

Two stories about math (and about temperament):

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(1) Counting

Laurel began to "count" at the start of the summer. I first noticed it at her swimming lessons, as I have mentioned before: she would count down before jumping into the pool. For quite a while she would say "four, five, six," but she eventually settled on "eight, nine, ten!" as her favorite sequence.

She still loves to recite numbers in sequence, although she doesn't seem to understand that the numbers represent quantity. I often count small quantities for her, and she always picks up where I left off. When I count her two shoes as I put them on her feet, she continues by saying "Three, four, five!"

She can now count from one to ten on her own. Her favorite use for this trick is while she is looking at a printed page. With a serious expression on her face, she runs her finger along the lines of text while she recites numbers in a deep voice. She is pretending to be a grown-up reading something important.

She only keeps it up for a moment or two before she stops and laughs.

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(2) Geometry

Isaac bought himself stuffed dolls of the three Powerpuff Girls, and he likes to toss them up in the air to make them fly like superheroes. He did this recently, and after they landed on the floor he said, "Hey, they made a triangle!"

I suddenly remembered the "A" I had gotten in high school geometry, and I said, "Yes, any three points always form a triangle."

"No, they don't," Isaac said without hesitation.

"Yes, they do," I said patiently.

He arranged the three dolls in a straight line.

"No, they don't," he repeated.

And by gosh, he was right!

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I got a "D" the first time I took geometry, actually, mostly because I cut class and didn't do my homework. I got the "A" when I re-took it in summer school.