Thursday, September 28, 2006

Lately Lydia has become increasingly aware of things that I do. All kinds of things - folding clothes, brushing hair, loading the dishwasher etc. Just various task she is observing that make up daily life. She of course wants to do the same things.
When I water our potted plants, she watches what I do carefully and when I set the watering can down she grabs it up and repeats the chore.






Another thing with which she is enamored lately is utensils - particularly forks. I've discovered that the novelty of using a fork will ensure that she even eats the foods she doesn't really like - for instance, green veggies!! I'll usually let her begin to eat without the fork and then when I give it to her she gets so excited. She really tries hard to stab the food, but struggles to get most things to stay on those pesky tines. I'll help her spear the food and then she wants to do it all herself as she guides the fork to her mouth. She is still working on that hand/eye coordination and usually puts the fork in at the wrong angle - causing the food to fall off. When she gets frustrated with the stabbing motion, she'll pick up a piece of food and lay it on the fork before putting in her mouth. Of course those pieces only make it into her mouth about 50% of the time too!




She can finally move the truck using her feet.

Yay!!
A night of sleep with two pups is double the love and joy.
It is just so cute and also funny how much she loves Pup. She "discovers" him among her toys throughout the day and promptly races over to give him his love bite on the nose. She frequently carries him around in her mouth. She also loves to suck on his ears and tail when she is tired. Her attachment to this stuffed animal kind of reminds me of the book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Have you read it?
I distinctly remember when I first discovered this book. I was not really young, but I loved it immediately. I was with my cousin Erin and Aunt Ginger in their old blue van (which I thought was soo cool because it had a digital display). We were returning a book that they had given as a gift but found out that the child already had a copy. I flipped it open on the way to the store, commenting that I had never read The Velveteen Rabbit. Neither of them could believe it and Aunt Ginger said that I must have a copy - so she gave that one to me. Over the years that copy disappeared. This is a book I definitely plan to add to our childrens' collection of books.

4 comments:

Kelley said...

I really enjoy reading your observations of Lydia. I tend to think of children that age as still being babies but it's amazing how quickly they learn and pick up things just from watching adults. It almost makes me scared for when we have children because I know they'll pick up bad habits just as easily (if not more so) than the goods ones.

Once when I was sick I remember asking my parents if they would have to burn my favorite stuffed animal because of the germs. Thankfully what I had was not contagious and I still have him. :-)

Elizabeth said...

I've never read Velveteen Rabbit all the way through. I am familiar with the story line, I guess, but somehow I managed to grow up without actually reading the book. Last night Lydia gave Pup to me and when I started patting his back, she decided to get in on the act. Everyone REALLY loves Pup.

Kathy said...

are those little curls I see on Lydia's hair in the back? that is way cool...

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if I've read the VR. I think so. We didn't own it in my parental home, though.
Lydia's hair is getting soo long. Less than two months now until we can hug her. :)
We love these updates.
Rob