Rachel’s First Trip to the Library

I was eager to see how my little bookworm would react to entire rooms full of books. We’ve taught her not to remove books from our bookshelves at home. Instead she loves to “count” all the books that she isn’t allowed to play with yet. Still I was still worried she’d start pulling massive quantities off shelves before I could stop her. Wouldn’t the librarians just love me then?

Like most children, Rachel loves to hear the same story over and over…and over and over…and over and over again. We buy a lot of books from thrift stories to keep our sanity and feed her insatiable desire. Having a free source (and books that eventually go away!) was an exciting prospect for me too.

It was a beautiful, sunny morning. We arrived 10 minutes before the library opened and sat on a bench to have a snack.

Time to investigate this library place! First discovery: a playground. I managed to squeeze myself and her on the plastic slide. Though it was a sunny morning, it was cold and we both ended up with frosty bottoms before long. That didn’t deter my little monkey. It took some coaxing with visions of books to get her away.

The library had a yellow basket full of books for toddlers. I was very grateful for such a clearly delineated subset of books that Rachel was allowed to play with. Rachel was very discerning and could tell by the first page if a book was acceptable. We quickly emptied half the basket and found three books to take home.

The library has more than fun books to read. It also has another special treasure: more kids! “Look, mama. A boy!”

Sneaking closer.

And closer.

But too shy to actually interact. Just like her mama.

The library also has a computer with a very colorful keyboard. They even have a “Blue’s Clues” game – Rachel’s current favorite show. Unfortunately she wouldn’t wear the headphones so there wasn’t much point in playing the game. Maybe next time.

Treasures in hand, we made our way home…
…to curl up with a good book.

The Mighty Vacuum

Remember when you used to spy on your parents, crawling around outside and peeking oh-so-secretively through the window? They would politely pretend they didn’t see you, continuing their exciting activities like watching TV and cooking dinner. Some part of you realized they had probably caught you long before, but as a master of espionage this did not deter you from completing your mission.

Remember hiding from cars as they drove down the street? The trick was to stand on the sidewalk listening for their approach and as soon as you could see one turn the corner, dash as fast as you could behind a bush or parked car. Most drivers didn’t notice and/or care, but that didn’t detract from the excitement.

Or perhaps this was just me and my friends.

Well, I’m thrilled to report that Rachel has already started demonstrating this level of creative playtime. Her nemesis: the vacuum. To the untrained eye, she may appear to be scared of the noise or just ignoring it. But I know better. It starts with excited “vroom vroom” noises when I tell her we’re going to vacuum. Then there is the twinkle of anticipation in her eye when I reach to turn it on and the quick dash down the hall when the noise starts. She acts nonchalant, looking at books and playing with blocks while I clean the room, only to dash out and splay face down on the floor for no apparent reason. Will the mighty vacuum get her this time? Or will she once again get away with such a dare-devilish stunt? Of course there is the tell-tale sign of the game that exists only in her mind: begging for “more” vacuuming when I turn it off.

I’m so excited to see what creative games will come next!

Artwork

I was eager to introduce Rachel to art since it is my own passion. Thanks to some fancy crayons (with a hard plastic cover that you twist to expose more crayon), I was able to introduce drawing without broken crayons and with reduced risk of eaten crayon. Rachel, however, was more interested in taking the crayons out of the box and putting them back in, or making stacks or crayons, or hiding them under my legs. She is very interested in cooperative artwork, aka drawing on top of my doodles. But she is starting to understand the concept. Here is a piece from her Pollock-inspired period.

We moved from 2D artwork to 3D artwork with some homemade play dough. I used an edible recipe given Rachel's preoccupation with eating everything in sight. I was correct that Rachel tried to eat it first thing. It should taste horrible with the amount of salt in it, but it didn't phase her so I had to her it was gross. Since she couldn't eat it she decided chasing the kitty was more fun. Oh, well. At least I had fun making it and playing with it to encourage her.

Round 2 was much more successful. Play dough in the shape of cars is much more interesting. Even if they don't roll, they can still make a good "vroom, vroom" sound. Of course, you can always pretend to eat it and feed it to mama. I see lots of tea parties in the future, much to her daddy's chagrin.
But play dough is the most fun when it is on your head.