Hey what?

Hey-Tec! Hey-Tec! Hey-Tec!

Now run back and forth with the dog screaming that over and over and over.  Hey-Tec is the name of the game Lilli created for when we play fetch with Taz.  Maybe it was just her mispronunciation of Hey-Taz, but it has stuck for a while now.

Lilli has quite the imagination on her, she's oozing with creativity and sometimes I'm at a loss to how to direct it.  Luckily, she has found many outlets on her own.  She names her new gifts, no matter what form they come in.  She comes up with things on her own, without our help.  She even gets mad if you try and add your two cents.  "Myself, Mommy. Myself, Daddy." Words that are growing more and more common around here.

Next she came up with Beepbo, a game we played on the patio where we throwing a ball through the gap in her swing on our patio, back and forth to each other.  Then there is Heinie, the way too phallic looking water growing pet she lovingly brings to every tea party.  Laaah, the sun shaped balloon Dave bought her. Thats L-AH not La.  She will correct you.

And of course, there's Gar, the name of the alligator bath puppet.  The first of the named creatures she has ever imagined from before her second birthday.  We thought it was a noise she was making, but it too has stuck.  Even more strange, turns out, Gars actually exist! They're an alligator looking fish that's mean as hell. Ironically, the personality Gar has encompassed has uncanny similarities to a mean old alligator fish.

And lastly, my favorite of her creative exploration, the many songs she makes up every single day.  Her favorite, of course, is Roll Out the Door Ball! Roll Out the Door! Personally, I think she might be looking at some copy write issues with Ludacris.

Experiments

A few months ago our water was turned off to repair our sink.  When it was turned back on, the water brought up some dirt from the pipes and sputtered out some air along with it.  Each sink and shower had a few seconds of loud noises and dirty water, which would change the course of baths, showers, and hand washing forever.  Each time we turned on a sink or bath, Lilli ran screaming from the room in terror.

It took a LOT of convincing to take baths, wash hands and finally take showers.  After what seemed like years, we got back to normal.  No more cups at the sink to wash hands, no more bath only fights, no more bribery of new bath toys, paints and various other desperate attempts to get back our regular scheduled hygiene routines (see giant mixing bowl, plastic cups, and lots of bubble baths).

Recently, after a shower and a few curious questions about the differences between showers and baths, I decided to try and explain things a little better.  With the help of some sandwich bags, building block cups, spoons and straws we filled up said giant mixing bowl in the sink and set out to explore.

First, I filled two sandwich bags with water and sealed them tight.  The first, we poked holes in and the second we cut a big hole in the corner.  We talked about how the water comes from the same place but just comes out differently because of the holes.

Next, we broke out some of her IKEA building cups, some of which have lots of holes, others just one. Same lesson, different methods.

Then, ice. We learned about how the ice melts, it makes the water colder, and it's very hard to catch as it floats on the water.

Finally, I took the floating conversations as an opportunity to talk about floating and sinking.  How come the metal spoon floats and the plastic one doesn't? Why does the water bottle float empty and sink when it's full?  What about quarters? And this straw? What about anything else within reaching distance?!

I nearly had to drag  her away from the sink, she had so much fun.  While it was messy, two full towels of clean up, she learned a lot in what took only a few extra minutes to explain. Totally worth it.

Rice and Beans

Baby pool: $5.00

Bag of beans: $.98

Bag of rice: $.98

Occupied toddler learning about sizes and volume without a huge mess all over my carpet: Priceless

Conversations with Lilli

"Are you ok? What are you doing, Lilli? Taking a break?"
"No! I sleeping with Mini-bike!"

If you watch Yo Gabba Gabba, you know Mini-bike is the name of Jack Black's ride when he visits Gabbaland.  One rainy afternoon, I decided to make Mini-bike's costume out of some construction paper... He has since taken on a personality all his own, voice included (thanks, Dave).

Every day, Lilli goes outside on the patio, places "Mini-bike" on it's side with a toy flower and sets him up for his "rest" before she starts her own. Mini-bike is woken up each morning, put to bed each night, joins us at meals (even gets his own dishes some days), watches her favorite shows with her, and most importantly, is told every detail her her day.  If something amazing happens she says, "When I get home, I tell Mini-bike!" She hugs him more times a day than she hugs us, she lays with him and chats, he gets more attention than I do most days.  Today, I accidentally hit the bike with a lego and she made me apologize to him...

Thank you, Jack Black.

And here we are...

Lilli just had her half birthday. I think, my last real entries before these most recent was for her second birthday.  It saddens me that I didn't get a chance to record so many amazing moments. Too many adventures and stories lost in the chaos of time moving too fast.  Especially, making her first best friend, the stories she tells now and the development of that skill, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, potty training continued (still), her first major scary boo-boo, learning to jump, learning to care about what other people think, being generally cute and funny.

All of those things can only be seen in photos and very few videos. I won't get to look back at my thoughts on how she experienced her first pony ride, sitting on Santa take two (success), becoming way too independent for my aching heart.  I can only hope I can get some down now, or remember them when she's older, to form the words and memories from photographs.  Maybe it won't seem like such a long time when she's older and those six months will feel like an instant.  For my own record, it was an amazing six month of progress. She grew six months closer to the person she will be, and so far that person is amazingly awesome.

There are a few things I'd like to get down before they disappear.  Hopefully, I have a chance to share them over the next few posts. Maybe one of the most intriguing, to me at least is, quirks of hers is this obsession with Oswald.  An extremely polite and friendly octopus who lives in "Big City" with his dog wienie.  He has a best friend and neighbor, an ornery penguin named Henry. And his other bff is an overly friendly flower named Daisy.

It all started with Taz getting renamed Wienie.  Lilli was Oswald, sometimes getting extremely upset when you didn't refer to her as such.  And eventually, Dave became Henry and I became Daisy.  We play along because if we don't there's a meltdown. Most days it's cute. Other day's it's not. Sometimes I worry about how long it's normal to pretend obsessively that each member of the family is playing a part.  With the exception of poor Linus, who has been excluded from her imagination.  It seems our cat and Lilli aren't the best of friends since the "chair" incident.

Things could be worse, she could be pretending to be a violent character or using her imaginary characters to act out in some way.  Instead, she's learning to be polite, share and be a genuinely good friend and person to others.  She's learning about octopi and penguins.  And the best part is that we're part of the cast in her imagination.

Imagination

It started with a tea party, from there it was grocery shopping and playing mommy to her babies. Then the story lines got more complex, sometimes not rational to our jaded adult minds. We were asked to participate and ordered to say our lines correctly or put the block in the "right spot." There were tents made and houses constructed of blocks where only certain members could apply for housing (mostly of the stuffed persuasion). We bought her a baby stroller for her dolls, though she'd rather sit in it herself, she loves to take any number of her "kids" for walks around the complex. She has a purse that contains fake credit cards, a gigantic tub of plastic lipstick (which is used as concealer, blush and eyeshadow), her "monies" in a plastic change purse, and of course her keys. Watching her reproduce the events in her life with her own imaginative twist is nothing short of captivating.

She knows how to use the tools of life from watching us so very closely for the past (almost) two years. She tries to put her huge plastic key in the door, she uses her money to pay for things, and she plays mommy to her many babies. Though, I'm pretty sure she'd be arrested for child abuse in real life. She's a typical toddler exploring the incredible world of imagination. Most of her play is mimicking what she sees in real life. Like most kids her age, she has formed her ideas of what grown ups do from watching us do everyday things.  Daddy does the dishes, Mommy does the laundry and the baby cries... very loudly... until their needs are met.  Things we rarely pay close enough attention to to realize these little sponges are absorbing at the most incredible rate. She is forming her own ideas about gender roles, social norms, and culture. It's amazing to see those roles and norms fall so quickly into place.  (Here's a great article about gender roles.)

For her birthday, Grammy (Dave's mom) bought Lilli a "My First Doll House". The two of them spent many days of her visit playing house. Grammy is always in the rocker, Dad is in bed, and for some reason I am always in the tub. Maybe she's trying to tell me something *sniff sniff*, maybe not. Watching Lilli go from a little blob of skin and bones, flopping about to get a better view of the fuzzy world she had yet to explore, to a thinking, speaking, imagining toddler has gone by faster than anything I've ever experienced in my entire life.

While I may not understand why she is cooking her baby with a strawberry, using a glow stick to stir and yelling at me for suggesting she use a spoon, I promote this strange behavior.  I'm sure she wont go on to cook babies in a fruit sauce, she will certainly get the most she can out of her imagination with out any judgement from me.

"Song of the Entry"
Shhh by Donora

Play-doh 2

One of my favorite things in life is crafting. I love to sit down with some pieces of material and create something out of nothing. Since Lilli was able to pick up a crayon (probably much younger than the suggested use), we've been exploring all the world of crafts has to offer a baby or toddler.  Just before her first birthday she started with crayons. She has been expressing an interest in cooking for some time now.

She has done play-doh before, not quite grasping the idea behind it but exploring the composition.  I knew she would understand that this substance can be used in new ways.  She is starting to use her imagination quite a bit and so I decided to try something new, edible play-doh. I didn't go with the exact directions, going on the light side of sugar and honey.  I mixed it to a play-doh-ish consistency and it still worked out great.  I love that this site allows you to put in your own serving size and adjusts the ingredients accordingly.  I have to admit, it tastes great and it was super fun.  Plus, we have a nice sized sandwich bag in the fridge for another day.

"Song of the Entry"

Only Pieces by Here We Go Magic

Toddler Technology

If you don't have an iPhone or simply have some sort of an issue with them, you can skip this entry.  If you are super cool, like me, and have the pleasure of enjoying such a wonderful piece of technology and you have a toddler or baby, read on.

Here is a list of a few of my favorite applications for Lilli.  I guess I shouldn't call them my favorites, they are Lilli's favorites.  They're great when we're waiting in lines, bribing her to do things when she must sit still, and when we need a few minutes of quiet.  Some of them are very educational, she has learned a lot from the shape and animal based games.  And some make my head feel like it's going to explode if I hear the same song again, like almost any annoying toy toddlers enjoy repeating.  Here we go:

• Peek-a-boo Farm and Peek-a-boo Wild - She has loved these since she was very very young.  They were great when we couldn't get her to stop crying in the car when she was a baby.  Now she loves them even more, shouting the names of the animals followed by their corresponding sounds.  
• Elias collection - These includes eliasZoo, eliasABC, and eliasTours.  We have recently found a new one from this company called eliasFarm where you can customize the banner of the flying airplane. 
• Balloonimals - We started with the light version of this game and as she got older she started to really enjoy it more and more. Eventually I folded and got the full version.  While I don't enjoy the slobber she seems to be unable to control while blowing up these cute interactive balloon animals, it definitely has come in handy from time to time. 
• Baby Piano Lite - I have yet to go for the full version, the light one is great in itself. Be warned, this is one of those that will make you want to buy a pair of toddler headphones.  
• Toddler Teasers - This company has a ton of apps, we tried out the free shapes. She gets so excited when they clap for her and she has definitely benefited by learning her shapes.
• Preschool Tap - She just recently rediscovered this one. I think she likes it because she knows the answers and when she gets them right the smiley face nods yes and tells her how awesome she is for getting it right.  
• Blowfish Poppers - This is fun for me too, I love it as much as she does for the first 50 times she makes me play while she watches.  She can play herself but prefers to watch me.  
• iPuzzleWords - A newer app, it's cute and a little over her head.  She loves it just the same and when she does eventually get the words right, she yells at the top of her lungs the animal.  
• HippoShapes - Another shape game that tells her she's wonderful. 

We have about 30 apps for her to choose from at any given time. With two iPhones in the house, it's helpful when bribery seems to be the only means of getting anything done these days. I'll try and post a few more every now and then, and please share any good ones we should try out (I will definitely give credit where credit is due).  If you try them out and you like any, let me know! 

"Song of the Entry"

Chimineys Stood Like Monuments by Cartridge  

The Hole

It's become somewhat of a tradition, with our many trips to the beach recently, to dig the best hole ever. We've been going every other week or two, trying to out run the oil washing up on the Florida coastline.  It's so sad to think that she, most likely. not remember the beaches of Florida the way it is now.  Worse yet, that this ecosystem is going to dramatically change for the worse over her lifetime. We've been going to all of the beaches we've always wanted to see, our favorites, and even ones we haven't visited in a very long time.  Hoping to at least have some photos to show her, when she's older, of what it was like when she was a kid.

Once we're set up, Dave and Lilli go to work on digging a hole.

Love. 

"Song of the Entry" 

Hermit (F.Y.P. Cover) by Dios Malos

Hair

Bring up the word "tails" in front of Lilli and she will cry for you to put her hair up in two neat pigtails every time.  Tell her we have to get ready and do our hair and she will sprint for the sink, climb her stool, and start to comb her hair into a huge mess or knots (or "knotties" as we call them).

For months her hair wisped just below her eye brows. She would squint and brush it aside. I tried parting it different ways, different cute and fun clips and barrettes, I even tried headbands. Lilli just was not a fan. I tried using the little baby rubber bands that they sell in the baby section. They hurt her and she screamed within 5 minutes.  (Dear Target, stop selling those, they suck!)  So I tried my ouch-less ones that I haven't used since my hair was shorter and SCORE! Only she wouldn't keep them in very long, the interest lasted only as long as she could look in the mirror.  Then I started calling them pony tails and pig tails. It's incredible what one little association to farm animals will do.

Ever since, every day when I put my hair up or brush it out, Lilli is standing right next to me waiting for her turn.  "Tails? Pony? Pig? Tails?!" Usually putting the comb through her hair, making it harder to brush out.  And when I'm not looking she tries to put a little hair mousse in it.  

I'll say one thing, as exciting as it is to finally be able to do our hair together, I don't look forward to showing her how to use make up!  

"Song of the Entry" 

Day Glo by Brazos

Sharing is Caring

In the early Spring, we went to the park almost three times a week. Lilli would always head for one specific area when she went to our favorite park. Right for the huge sandbox-like area of mulch where all of the boys would be shoveling and dumping buckets full of rubber mulch.  Without hesitation she would dive right into whatever task they were completing.  She loved (and loves) to get as dirty as possible, no matter what shoes she was wearing.

Every time we went, it would end in a breakdown of some sort when the family who brought all of the buckets, shovels and pick up trucks had to leave for the day.  Worse yet, when the owner of these toys wanted one that Lilli was using at the time.  At first, it was hard to explain sharing to her without using the word "sharing." Since the words she understood didn't really help in explaining the concept, I found myself saying over and over "Lilli, share the toys!" I would ask other parents how they taught their child to share. They almost always had the same answer "pre-school/day care." Well, that's not really an option for us right now.  So I did the next best thing for a work-at-home mom, I read articles and practiced with her when the opportunity presented itself.

We read a lot of stories about sharing, which seemed to at least initiate the idea into her mind.  We would practice at the park, which always resulted in a breakdown, followed by removing her from the area, when a kid left with their bucket and shovels. I felt terrible taking her away from her favorite part of the playground to avoid a scene. Distraction. Distraction. Distraction. While distraction almost always works, it didn't really teach her what we needed her to understand.

In the end the most productive form of teaching her to share was sharing. Go figure. It seemed to click so naturally when we would practice.  We would ask her if she'd like to share something we were playing with or eating at home.  It seemed to be best understood when it involved some sort of treat she loved.  We would ask if we could share something she was using, like her toys. We asked her to share with Taz and Linus. We started having tea parties (holy moly, so cute).  It seemed to put an act with a word.  A word that was repeated over and over without explanation.  Finally, it was starting to come together for her.

Sharing is still a work in progress, sometimes we forget and have to start back at the beginning, but we're moving forward most of the time and that's what is important.  For the future I need to remember, acting is a far better teaching tool than talking in some cases.  I can't just shout words at her and hope that someday she puts two and two together.  I need to show her how to be a better person, not just tell her.  Lessons learned.

"Song of the Entry"
When I'm Small by Phantogram

Busch Gardens: part 2

As an added incentive of going on our adventures, we usually give in when it comes to the snack department.  Dave and I have always been a sucker for sweets, though we've gotten much better since having a child.  One of Lilli's favorite things is "cream!" Ice cream, whipped cream, even sour cream. She will pull apart a taco just to get to the cream and won't touch the rest of it until every drop has been consumed.

And just for the record, she only ate the very top of that huge cup of pudding and only after eating chicken, carrots and fruit. 

"Song of the Entry" 

Rhinocirrhosis by Bikinians

Busch Gardens: part 1

Recently, Dave made a case for purchasing season passes to Busch Gardens/Adventure Island. Since we're state residents, we get a pretty nice discount.  I have to say, at first, I was seriously against dropping so much money for something "fun" when we have so many other things we could use.  However, he spent a good part of two days trying to convince me that it was the best idea he's ever had.  Apparently, Dave has very fond memories of water and amusement parks from when he was a kid and wanted to share those moments with Lilli.  Who can argue that? I couldn't... I tried.  A lot. And after too many days of the same argument, I decided that this obviously was important to him, so I gave in and by the next morning he had the passes printed and our bags packed.

Over the past month and a half we have gone every weekend to one park or the other.  Lilli has a blast every single time.  She exhausts herself to the point where she passes out in the car before we even get out of the lot.  I'd say we got our money's worth, for sure.

As a result of our many trips, we've had to deal with a major "letting go" moment.  We've had the joy of experiencing this moment over and over since beginning our weekend adventures.  Putting Lilli on a ride... by. her. self. Seriously?!?! My baby!? ALONE! ON A RIDE! The park has a few rides specifically for kids her size, but still, the vision of seeing her sitting on a swing alone sent panic through my heart.  Then the ride started... My panic turned into fear, then pride, then sadness. My baby is not a baby.  She hasn't been for a while now, but this...

This was hard to swallow. She rode the swings, the train, the motorcycles, and the airplanes.  All alone. All grown into a child before my very eyes.  She still likes to ride with us, thank goodness. I think if she started the teenage years early my heart would turn to pieces.  

Although it breaks my heart to see her sitting in a ride alone while we stand on the sidelines cheering and waving, it's for the best.  I almost get tears in my eyes thinking about how far she's come in such a short time.  She is so independent and adventurous it's scary.  She may not remember it, but we are spending some serious quality time together. "We're depositing so much into her emotional  bank," Dave says.  He's right.  We're having a blast doing it too. 

I take it back, Dave. Our adventures were the best investment you've ever convinced me fold on. 

"Song of the Entry" 

You Push, I'll Go by Baby Dayliner

Tops and bottoms

Lilli takes her teeth brushing very seriously.  If we let her, she'd brush her teeth 5 times a day.  Before bed the other night, she climbed up her bathroom stool to brush her teeth at the sink.  She was carrying her favorite toy of the week, a Little People pig, and on her climb up the stool she dropped it on the floor.

"Oh No! Piiig where are yoooou?"
She picks up the pig, places him on the counter and knocks him down again on the way back up the stool.
"Oh nuts! Sorry, pig!" then picks him up again.
To make it up to him she brushed his teeth too.

"Song of the Entry"
Mirador by Efterklang

Mom-dating

Lilli recently learned the word "park" and will ask to go almost instantly after she wakes up in the morning. So one weekend afternoon, we were driving around running our usual errands and decided to stop and let her play for a bit.  Sometimes a quick stop at our favorite park is worth the expression on her face when we step outside of the car.  This day Lilli seemed to be especially relaxed and spent a good 45 minutes on the swings. We usually sing songs and talk about the trees, I could swear she almost fell asleep.

As Lilli put her head back and let the wind blow through her hair, mom's and their kids came and went.  Then one woman with her two sons sat down next to us one swing over.  She seemed really nice, we chatted for a few minutes about her kids. She had twin 4 year olds and a toddler, I always say to moms with boys "All those boys?! You must be exhausted." Then she asked me about my job, she told me she worked at home too. She saids he had just moved to the area from Michigan last week and was going a little crazy from not knowing anyone.  She said she was in telemarketing and that her neighbors don't ever go outside.  It was a friendly conversation between moms.  Something I had been looking to find for some time.

Then things got awkward.  Well,... maybe not from her end, but I find these situations very uncomfortable.  She asked me to take down her number.  She said she couldn't stand being home all day alone with her boys and thought we should meet up.  Instinctively, I took out my phone, added her number and was about to talk a little more when she said "Maybe we can do lunch next week!" And with that she walked away.

I noticed she was doing the same thing to a few other moms around the park and it made me feel weird.  The whole situation was so familiar, it reminded me of dating. I felt like I was in a sunny bar with kids and play equipment instead of sweaty dudes and barstools, juice boxes instead of shot glasses, scraped knees instead of beer muddied jean bottoms. I was being picked up by a "player", handing out their number to anyone who seemed approachable, and was about to be judged whether I was a worth keeping around over lunch ('cause you don't take a new girl out to dinner first).  I hated dating the first time around...

So I went over it in my head, whether I'd call or not.  I decided not to this time, it just didn't feel right.  I knew these kinds of guys moms, she was getting as many numbers as she could to see if anyone would bite.  While it had taken a lot for me to get into the swing of meeting new moms in my area, I wasn't going to jump at the first opportunity that presented itself.  If I see her again, maybe we can get to know each other a little better before committing to a date.  I'm just not that kind of girl mom.

"Song of the Entry"
Digging for Clams by Almond, Cohen

Play-doh

Since I am a work-at-home mom, some days I find myself grabbing at straws (often, literally) trying to find activities to entertain my 16 month old. Some days we color, go to the park, take long walks, feed the ducks, build towers, or play dress up. However, my toddler's 20 minute attention span is hard to keep up with most days. I try to keep a flexible schedule and find new things to expand her experiences.

Lilli loves to watch us cook, she especially likes to see and touch each ingredient. Sometimes, it seems, that she is more open to trying new foods if she watches it being made from it's parts. So last week we made homemade play-doh and a huge mess.

At first, Lilli just looked from the lumps of dough and then to me with curious eyes. She seemed afraid to get messy, which isn't surprising since she's a pretty tidy kid. So I had to take things into my own hands. I made my best Elmo replica, letters of the alphabet and a few other recognizable animals and slowly she became interested. It took some coaxing and plenty of explaining that it was alright to get a little messy, but by the end of the day she was elbow deep in exploration.

Though I shouldn't have been, I was surprised that she was more interested in the texture and composition of the dough rather than creating something from it. She squeezed it between her tiny fingers, made tiny crumbs, and mashed lumps of dough with all of her might. While clean up was less than fun for me, it was worth the experience for the both of us. Since I love crafts, it feels like this is the beginning of an exciting new phase of being a mom. I finally am starting to teach her something I truly enjoy, a part of myself that she wasn't able to with me before now. It will be a little while before we're doing sewing projects or making jewelry together, but this beginning is inspiring and exciting.

"Song of the Entry"

Abacus by Fionn Regan

(song and blog go out to Aunt Meghan for her play-doh recipe and awesomeness)

Playground organizer

Each morning, weather and mood permitting, I take Lilli to the playground. Before commencing play time, she does is an inspection of how things changed since the day before.

First, she checks to see if anyone put mulch in the teeter-totter. Depending on the status, she will either fill it up for the next person or clean it out.


Second, she checks the steps of the big equipment to make sure they're cleared off. This is something she has done since the first time we took her to the playground near our house. She doesn't like when there is any dirt or mulch on the steps, so she places each individual piece through the holes in the steps. She will not continue to the next step until each step is cleared off.


Finally, she walks over to her favorite alligator to say hello.


Some days Lilli spends most of her time organizing. Pine cones belong outside of the play area, mulch goes the ground (unless the teeter totter is empty), and large pine needles belong in the grass. Finally, big pieces of bark are a victory in exploration.


It's interesting to watch her sort out where things belong and I'm always curious to where she came up with these rules. Since Dave and I are quite organized, it's not surprising that she has inherited this strange quirk and it's entertaining to watch.

"Indie Song of the Entry"

Just Like Heaven by Joy Zipper

Wind

Some mornings Lilli and I go over to the playground across the street to exhaust some of her endless energy. One morning, as she laid in the grass playing her favorite game of organize-the-leaves-sticks-and-mulch, Lilli watched as some leaves blew across the parking lot towards her.

At first, she looked a little startled and confused. She watched as the wind picked up and her hair swirled around her head. She squinted her eyes and smiled like she does when you blow on her face and hair. I picked some leaves out of the grass and placed them on the bench near where we were playing. I took a deep breath and blew the leaves away. She laughed and looked at me with wide eyes as if to ask me to do it again.

She learned about wind that day. Now when the wind blows she stops what she is doing, squints her eyes, and smiles.

"Indie Song of the Entry"

Kanske är jag kär i dig by Jens Lekman

Educational push

In today's world we have every resource available at our fingertips. Videos, flashcards, classes, and even video games all geared towards babies and toddlers. There are entire industries dedicated to making our children smarter than we were at their age.

I won't pretend like I don't take advantage of the colorful videos. One particular sign language video has saved many car trips from many potential meltdowns that would have otherwise prolonged a trip. We have tried all of the different kinds:

Baby Einstein

Brainy Baby

Your Baby Can Read

Classical Baby

One time or another for one reason or another she has watched all of them. There are some that she gets excited about, especially those with colorful puppets and classical music. Some are fun, while others seem like homework. Pushing material such as reading, math and logic on her before she understands the concepts behind them. Some suggest using flashcards to aid in learning, others have fun songs, or classical music. None of them have made her any smarter than she could be with some extra attention and care.

I am not dead set against these learning aids, I don't have a strong opinion about those who use or don't use them. However, I won't spend hours a day forcing her to learn to read before she's learned to use the bathroom. I'd rather spend that time playing with her and introducing these concepts through interaction. Now is not the time to buckle down and study hard. It's time to be a child, learn through play and experience.

"Indie Song of the Entry"

Stella by Ida Maria

Fetch

Up until very recently, Lilli could not understand the concept of having a catch (or roll). She loves to play with the ball but instead of rolling it back, she gets up and brings it back to us. Basically, my daughter plays fetch. *sigh*

I really shouldn't have been surprised, she learns best from observation. The majority of our ball-play is with our dog, so she only knows that when the ball is thrown that she is supposed to bring it back. At first I was pretty upset. I felt like a bad parent for not spending more time teaching her how to roll the ball back and forth. After all, every child development book/article/website I read says that she should have been able to roll a ball back and forth between us for quite some time.

I talked to some other parents who were kind enough to admit that their kid also played fetch with them at one time. We bought her some new type of balls, some smaller, some bigger, some rubber, and some plastic. We practiced and played but she just wanted to run after it and hand it back to us. It wasn't until about a week or so ago that she got the hang of it... kind of...

She skipped right over rolling and went straight to throwing... at your face. Unfortunately, she gets about a foot and a half away from you before tossing it. Fortunately, she doesn't put full force into it... yet. She still loves to run after a ball with the dog, but I guess it's not the same as being raised by wolves.

"Indie Song of the Entry"

Sixteen by The Indelicates