sharing the smile of accomplishment
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That moment when you suddenly realize a connection was made.
When one person chooses to engage another.
That just happened!
It was subtle, brilliant, and it blew me away....
Rosemarie had just pulled herself up and - while holding on to the next available surface - walked her way around a chair to a low shelf unit proudly getting herself from point A to point B. She looked up at me and beamed!
That's how our day started and our adventure continued from there.
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Last weekend I spent an entire day babysitting while Ty and Amy went to a wedding.
9 hours of playtime, nap time, food time, a lot of time.....
She was quite adventurous - crawling under furniture, into cupboards, pulling books and other items off shelves. Anything within her reach was fair game and she was thrilled to share all her bounty with me!
Every activity she tried she wanted to share that experience with me.
I had forgotten about this cognitive development in kids - when the world becomes bigger for them. It is no longer just about the internal but suddenly includes the external world around them. And sharing it!
searching for the Lion and the Witch...
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We practiced walking, sorting, building, throwing, and putting it all away.
We had some reading time, listening time, singing time, and some personal play time.
She was game.
connecting with a friend
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Toys with faces make her laugh. I have a child size soft mannequin in my studio that she is quite curious of - but it is faceless.... and that confuses her. She points at it, and gets close to it but she does not know how to process it. I think I need to print out a kid face and attach it. Truthfully, it kind of creeps me out too.
trying Annie's Mac and Cheese for the first time
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Lunch time was so much fun! Watching her navigate the food; what went in, what she shared with me, what was tossed to the floor. Eating filled up the better part of an hour - learning each other's signals. I guess it was our first real "at table" conversation!
I look forward to more.
watching a children's music video
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We were both lying on the floor listening to nursery rhyme music coming from the computer. Rosemarie noticed that there was animation on the screen and climbed up onto my legs, and while hovering over the chair and computer began pumping herself up and down in a basic dance move all the while banging on the keyboard!
I was pinned to the floor and kind of prayed that she didn't fall over.
a late day visit to the Airstream with the siblings
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Mid afternoon we headed up to the Airstream to visit Papa, Charlie, and Penny. The dogs have taken to spending the afternoons up there. They like the sunshine and the companionship. They often come up after the've had their dinner too - while Amy and Ty are having Rosemarie time; dinner, bath, bed time - cause I think they understand that's not the best time for them to get attention at home. Once Rosemarie goes to bed they head home for puppy time!
When the kids got home around 5:30 I was exhausted! But it was a very special day. A milestone had been reached. Rosemarie definitely acts differently now when she sees me - she actually reaches out to me requesting that I hold her!
Personal connection.
I don't know what our eventual connection will be - football, gardening, sewing or even whoopee cushions and fake spiders (that was Tyler's and my mom's....) but I'm sure glad that we started here.
