We went to the playground yesterday. I've already written elsewhere about Eleanor organizing kids into games---she did it again yesterday. She had a 6 year old girl playing very elaborate chase games. They went better when the rules were established (like freeze tag) than when the rules were made up on the fly (like being chased by the daddy wolf who was in a cage, but could come out of the cage once a day... you get the idea). The other girl was an organizer as well.
Amanda has learned some things from her sister, and she is changing as well. In school they have noticed that she is starting to move beyond the "play alongside" stage, and into the "play with" stage. Yesterday she was playing in a little house at the park, and another girl came briefly into the house. Amanda clearly wanted to play with her, and ended up following her around the park, carrying a bucket of sand. However, the other girl was clearly too busy to play with Amanda, Amanda was too quiet and little, and it was time for them to go. I didn't interfere. Then there was another little girl in the house, so Amanda went up to her. I had to coach her to say "Hi, my name is Amanda." The other girl responded by hiding behind her mother. Amanda made "pizza bianca" for them, the other girl didn't say anything. Her mom said she was quite shy. There will be other days.
Luke had fun pulling himself up on everything that was nailed down, and stood for long periods without holding onto anything. Just before walking is a hard time to go to the park in the winter. You are crawling on the cold sidewalk, you get sand on your hands and then in your mouth, your knees are cold... He had a great time, despite this. He made this clear by talking the entire time---ba ba bwa De DE ba. I am continually surprised by the variety of expression that a baby can manage while not saying any words. It is clear that he is related to his father =).
Note to Michael: please don't brush Luke's wet hair into a mohawk before bed. One would think that it would come out in his sleep, but apparently it doesn't.
Amanda has learned some things from her sister, and she is changing as well. In school they have noticed that she is starting to move beyond the "play alongside" stage, and into the "play with" stage. Yesterday she was playing in a little house at the park, and another girl came briefly into the house. Amanda clearly wanted to play with her, and ended up following her around the park, carrying a bucket of sand. However, the other girl was clearly too busy to play with Amanda, Amanda was too quiet and little, and it was time for them to go. I didn't interfere. Then there was another little girl in the house, so Amanda went up to her. I had to coach her to say "Hi, my name is Amanda." The other girl responded by hiding behind her mother. Amanda made "pizza bianca" for them, the other girl didn't say anything. Her mom said she was quite shy. There will be other days.
Luke had fun pulling himself up on everything that was nailed down, and stood for long periods without holding onto anything. Just before walking is a hard time to go to the park in the winter. You are crawling on the cold sidewalk, you get sand on your hands and then in your mouth, your knees are cold... He had a great time, despite this. He made this clear by talking the entire time---ba ba bwa De DE ba. I am continually surprised by the variety of expression that a baby can manage while not saying any words. It is clear that he is related to his father =).
Note to Michael: please don't brush Luke's wet hair into a mohawk before bed. One would think that it would come out in his sleep, but apparently it doesn't.
Comments
Aww, I was hoping that I wasn't going to have to fuss so much with Luke's hair after baths. I guess it will be shorter than the girls, so that will make things easier.