Cinnamon is Cissy’s youngest daughter, born in April 2012. Being the daughter of probably the most knowledgeable and intelligent female at Suaq, it is not surprising that Cinnamon is also very inquisitive and ahead of other kids her age in terms of skill development.

Cinnamon already knows how to process the vast majority of the fruits at Suaq and also knows when and where to find those fruits better and better each day: we often see her she traveling ahead of her mother Cissy, efficiently leading them from one fruit tree to the next. Cinnamon is very well behaved and knows when it is time to give the lead back to her mother. She will faithfully follow Cissy, but occasionally take small detours to pick up some extra goodies on the way.

At a very young age, Cinnamon started her first solo tool use attempts. Contrary to other young kids who temporarily give up on tool use after a few failed attempts, Cinnamon is very persistent and it looks like she was getting more and more fascinated by it. During her tool use practice sessions, Cinnamon often goes to closely watch her mother so that she can see how it is properly used. She is now getting more proficient at tool use faster than we usually observe it in other kids. Cinnamon is also very skilled at nest building. In the evenings she will build her own nest right next to Cissy’s nest but eventually, she switches to Cissy’s nest and spends the night with her mom.

Because Cissy is so sociable, from the very start, Cinnamon has almost constantly been surrounded by play partners. This includes not only her close relatives, such as Lois, but also the kids of unrelated females who like to hang out with Cissy. Among Cinnamon’s most frequent association partners is little Frankie who gets dropped off by his mother in Cissy’s travel parties frequently. Frankie is almost the same age as Cinnamon and it is, therefore, no wonder that the two have a special connection. Cinnamon seems to be the favorite play partner to most of the kids at Suaq: as soon as Cinnamon is nearby, the other kids try to get close and play with her.

When multiple kids are playing together, it is always Cinnamon who is looking out for the younger ones. When playing with younger kids, Cinnamon is very caring and makes sure that her junior play partners are doing well and don’t get harmed in the heat of the moment.  She even helps them cross tree gaps when the playgroup moves. She sometimes will wait with younger kids who are left behind just until their moms have arrived to pick them up. All this makes us think that Cinnamon has the potential to take over her mother’s role as the wise leader at Suaq, once the time has come.

In 2020, Cinnamon started playing less and eating more than usual and was suddenly growing in all dimensions. It made sense for Cinnamon to grow and build up her reserves as much as possible while she still had the full support of her mother. Since 2021, we have been seeing Cinnamon without her mother Cissy, who hasn’t been seen since. We are happy to see that Cinnamon seemed to have mastered the transition to independence well!