First off, let me explain that we call the dinosaur a parrot because I thought it would be easier than telling her all about dinosaurs that look like birds. However, we reap what we sow, and if you know me at all, you will probably not be surprised to know that now my inner nerd cringes every time we call it a parrot.
Argh.
Crippling and unnecessary precision – a rare talent of mine.
As to what in the world I’m talking about, I wanted to share what Lily is up to these days, of course! Lily has been into baby dolls and Little People type types for a long time, and enjoyed feeding them, changing them, and putting them down to go to sleep. Her play then progressed to having the dolls/animals/etc. run errands (to get milk), go to the zoo, cook dinner, etc. Lately, she has gotten even more into pretend play, and can more independently act out schemes that she and I have played before, and also things she has seen in book/s or experienced herself. My current favorite is one she came up with on her own after reading a book about being careful. She will have a doll “run, run, run” then announces that they are carrying “scissors.” Then, they usually get “hurt” and we need Band-Aids (I can’t spell how she says that, but she does say it). “Oh no.”
Anyway, please note that way back there I said that she CAN play more independently, and she often does, but that certainly does not mean that she WANTS to play by herself. These days, she loves nothing more than for someone to play “talk” with her. That’s when she gives you some toys, and you make them talk and perform for her. If you have her hold a toy to participate, she can answer for the character when asked “what’s your name?” and will usually correctly answer what the character, animal, or even block would say. The characters she acts out then usually end up chasing, falling and getting hurt, coughing or sneezing and needing to go to the doctor, eating, sleeping, or sitting. As much as it drives me nuts sometimes to play “talk” all day (especially last week, because we were both sick and were stuck at the house most of the week), I am loving this stage and watching her imagination develop.
For you those of you with time to kill, I present a day in the life – a snippet of what bath time with Lily might entail. There is a real lull a few minutes in, but we were trying to let her do her own thing without directing her much, even if it got less entertaining. And although I edit some photos, I am way too lazy to edit videos. We join Lily here after she has already been playing for 5 minutes or so, and we got the camera after she started having the walrus boss the penguin around, telling him to get out of the communal feed cup.
Love,
The Bogle Family Blog
Teaching important life lessons, such as “Running with scissors = Band-Aids”
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