In and Out, Open and Close

Dear readers, it was recently brought to my attention by one of you (who shall remain nameless) that it's been over a week since I posted anything. I am flattered that some of you are so dedicated and to prevent such WAILIN' (hint) in the future, I will try to post at least once a week, maybe twice.

So to that end, Miss Eliza has reached the developmental stage of being fascinated by the whole concept of opening and closing and that things can go inside other things. She spends her days opening and closing the door to her bedroom, to my bedroom (although not as much now that she's closed herself in alone a couple of times!), to the kitchen cabinets. She also likes to do this with the lid of her beautiful toy chest...thank goodness for safety hinges. It's all a little unnerving as I picture small fingers getting smushed, but she's only had a couple of small pinches, which may have been enough of a warning for her as she seems much more careful these days.

Along with opening and closing comes in and out. If there is a container around that could have things in it, she will find things to put in. If a container already has things in it, she will take them out. We recently bought some wooden clothespins (not the hinge kind) from the craft store and they now reside in a large Tupperware container where she can sit and put them in and out to her heart's content. And she does. Sometimes her blocks go in there too. And her shoes. And her sippy cup. It's very funny.

We also bought a "chunky" wooden puzzle, where the pieces are large wooden animals that go into spaces painted the same. She gets the general idea, but lacks the motor skills to put them in, so she takes the pieces out, then hands them to me. I put them over their designated spaces and she "helps" me press them back in. She loves it.

Yesterday, we received a wonderful present from Aunt Anna, Uncle Bryan, and Benjamin...a drum with other musical instruments stored inside. This meets many needs - in and out plus making noise in rhythm (a weekly occurrence at Wiggleworms, of course!). She was so excited by this one that she protested vigorously when I put it away for bedtime. I bribed her with a bath, though, which made everything better. It's the little things in life for this girl!

We went to a pumpkin farm over the weekend and I will try to get the pics off the camera and onto the blog soon!

Christine, I hope this satisfies your blogging needs...oops, did I say that out loud???