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.