Its Wednesday, 8 a.m., breakfast time in the Toddler Room at Iolas Head Start preschool.
Three adults and two towheaded toddlers sit in small chairs around a small table. The adults knees are all visible above the tabletop.
The children, Easton and Rey, ladle spoonfuls of Cream of Wheat and mandarin oranges into their mouths with half-accurate aim. Other toddlers will join these two soon. These are the early birds.
Rey, a sweet-faced girl of almost two, with plump cheeks, sleepy eyes, and the appetite of an NFL lineman, keeps her hungry spoon moving in one continuous loop, with great purpose from bowl to mouth to bowl to mouth until the bowl is empty. And then, in a quiet voice, she asks: More?