Monday, February 09, 2009

A Day of Board-dom

So I've been mostly motivated to get things done around the house...except for today, which was one of those blah, rainy, stay-inside sorts of days. I decided I would much rather play with Ella than do anything else. When she was younger and immobile I had all the time in the world to document her progress, and once she was mobile and talking and even more fascinating I totally slacked off on that. Today was such a great day I wanted to write about it just so I can remember it for later.

In the morning, I had a friend over for English conversation and Ella pretty much entertained herself with her toys and the Art Box. She is no longer afraid of Play-doh, by the way. Afterwards we played hide-and-seek with her stuffed opossum, Pottum, and she is getting much better at being able to look for things without getting distracted by the other toys. The great thing about Pottum is that his rat-like tail tends to peek out of hiding places, so it's not too hard and not too easy to find him.

We branched out to hiding ourselves and after a couple of tries she stopped standing in the middle of the room and progressed to curling up in a little ball in the middle of the room when it was her turn to hide. And then I stopped to wonder if it's really that smart to teach her to hide, though I'm sure she'll figure out other ways to give her parents a heart-attack later on.

In the afternoon we played for ages with a board that had been sitting out in the very cold sunroom (which is now doubling as an extra fridge). I took the biggest book we had and made a ramp, and she had a blast just walking up that thing and stepping off the edge. Then we took her alphabet blocks, made towers, and tried to knock them down by driving her cars down the ramp. I took some electrical tape and made a starting line and she seemed to get the idea of what to do. I don't know how long we played with that old board but it was pretty awesome.

We also found the time in our busy schedule to dance around to some Kool and the Gang. She's getting more into dancing and a couple times a week our little family will dance around in a circle until we get dizzy. I tried teaching her to bust a few moves but she's definitely more interested in doing her own thing and making other random objects dance with her. There are times when I think this has to be the best point in my life, having her around all day and getting to know her and having this little dance partner who loves to spin in circles until she falls down.

4 comments:

Michelle said...

Deb, it sounds like you had a blast. Sometimes, it is the little things in life that are worth cherishing the most. Thank you for reminding me to take the time to dance around the house with my budding ballerina and bust a move with my two.

Tammy said...

Toddler years are my favorite! They're so much fun then and they think Mama is the best person in the world. Now that my kid is 14, he doesn't want to know me (in public, anyway). He still comes and gives me a big hug when he comes home, but now he tries to pick me up. I miss the days when he would wrap his little arms around my neck and I'd pick him up and we'd spin around and around. Enjoy these days, they go by much too fast!!

Kathy said...

What a wonderful day!!! Abby is so good to go to her room and just play. The boys never did. I love to listen to her pretending.

Daniel hid in JCPenny one time to the point that I got the mall gaurd to help me. I was in a panic and then he came popping out to say BOO! Oh- I could have KILLED him! he he he!

Abby and Daniel got out a board last night and was walking up and down. How funny!!! Small world!

Anonymous said...

Didn't know how much fun I would have just hearing all of the fun things that a little does while learning. Oh, she is such a joy. Oh, it won't be long now till Sissy and I get to spoil her all we can. I know she is going to be rotten, but you can never love one too much. Do try to post more even though I know you are busy.