Time . . . it slips away from me, yet stalks me like a jealous mistress. Juggling home + increased teaching + a new book + toddler has me exhausted, but I don't want to neglect to document what an amazing age 25 months or so is even if I can't think of a cohesive narrative to do so.
I hired a middle school aged mother's helper (daughter of a friend) to come two afternoons a week as her schedule (and tolerance allows). Tavy was so excited to go pick her up for their first afternoon that when we arrived back home it was "See you, Mama!" while she introduced S to the wonders of her ball pit and had story after story read to her. The next day, I told her that S was coming again, and she raced downstairs and emerged with a plastic picnic basket that Clanna sent her eons ago and which has been largely ignored.
"Need Picnic for S!"
"Okay? What goes in the Picnic?"
"Juuuuuuice! And COOKIE! And CHIP! And CUP! And Knife!"
All but the last item got loaded up, and I got my Golden Heart entry for this year completed while I listened to the tea party going on in the living room. It was bliss. The only thing better than spending time with my child is watching others enjoy her too--she is just such a card, and I love sharing her personality with others.
Sometimes her own personality isn't enough for her--after S left, she had to pretend to be S. She wanted to "put shoe on" at the couch like S did, and she wanted me to give her "PEEPER with ABC" on it "NO LOOSE!" (S got paid in a check). Other times she pretends to be her friend L, " I L! Sing ABC! ABC! Need cheese! App-puh in box!" She only eats cheese when she is L. Other times she is her friend Infanta, and she is tiny baby: "WAH! Dadadadadadadadadaad WAH! Mama!" She needs to throw herself prostrate across my lap, and she need "SWEET-TUH." She only tolerates sweaters when she is Infanta. Or she is P--"Drink Milk! Ride RED Stroll-uh!" And then she is all her, "I NEED MY MAMA!"
She got S to play her favorite game with her which is where one of us draws what she tells us too--it's like Pictionary for the toddler crowd, and nothing makes her happier than dictating a scene: "Draw Matt! Draw Bus! Draw Daddy Car! Draw IE!!!!!!!!!! Draw Matt Bag!" I spend hours drawing babies, horses, Matt, and L, Infanta, and all her friends.
I love using S because I am letting Tavy have a little bit of TV at other times here and there, but I don't want to push that any further. She likes to sit on my lap and watch Sesame Street clips on youtube or Harold and the Purple Crayon on hulu, and Freak got her a Bernstein Bears DVD (She calls them the "Be Nice Bears!" which she loves, and she still does Little Bear. None of what she watches is particularly educational, but she is not much into the "edu-tainment" shows we have tried.
I have a high school aged girl who occasionally watches her at my school, but she has been busy with Track, so Tavy has spent some afternoons with L and her mother. We also go to "school" one day a week with L, and school has provided a new routine and a new basis for helping out around the house. (Around the house, I'm helping out! Helping out, Around the house--Thank you, Signing Time for that being stuck in my head). L is incredibly musical, so it is no wonder that Tavy associates her with all the school songs. "CLEAN-UP!" "GOOD MORNING TO L!"
She loves to make us sing the clean-up song over and over and over . . . . . She wants to do everything "ON OWN!" now. "ON OWN!" And now she is awake, so I will have to wait and write about how she cooks later.
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