This weekend was full of Phee's imagination and games. Her imagination is taking off these days and she's spending so much time being creative in her play- making up stories, reenacting her favorite episodes of her shows, telling us exactly what our role is in whatever game we're playing. It is so much fun just to watch her, or sit and listen in on her quiet play.
For a long time, Phee liked to wrap up all her babies and friends in blankets (burp cloths repurposed as baby blankets) and line them up. Sometimes, she would feed them, but more often than not it was a game of wrapping them up, unwrapping them and then doing it all over again. She hadn't done that in ages, but all of a sudden this weekend, that game returned. We had so much fun swaddling them up and lining them up. Then, it was her turn to get wrapped up in her blanket and lay down alongside her friends, with much giggling and wiggling.
Our trip to the library was full of computer time and finding new books. She's starting to have favorites and lists of books and characters she wants to look for at the library... Madeline
, Arthur
, Babar
, the Berenstain Bears
. We took a detour though the DVDs and found some of her favorites there, too. When you hand her a book she says she wants to "buy this one." She helps me scan the books at the self check and equates that to buying them.Sunday, she and her dad reenacted Knuffle Bunny
, running through the house with much laughter and yelling. It was absolutely hilarious to listen to her narrate the story and direct us through our roles, running down the hall and through the kitchen. After dinner we went for ice cream and when we tried to leave the outdoor area, we were directed to sit down and practice our instruments. Again, reenacting one of her favorite things, an episode of Madeline.Since her imagination has blossomed so much in the last few months, I'm sometimes caught off guard by her pretending. We tried for 20 minutes to leave the ice cream place, but she wanted to direct us and we didn't want to make her stop her game. It's just such a joy to play her games and have fun on her level. It's a great exercise for my memory, too, to try to keep up with what she's pretending and what show or book or character she's referencing.
Mostly, she's just amazing. Phee has always been full of personality. Now, we're seeing it really develop and she's becoming so much more independent. I love to watch her discover how her different toys can work together to create a whole new game. She's such a little person. And she's really a lot of fun to be with.