Games

I'm not a big fan of playing with children. I'm not great at playing pretend and I don't like to let small children win games just because they are children.

However. Squirms the Toddler has come up with several fun games that even I will play. Mainly because it makes her laugh. And she has the most wonderful laugh.

Read Magazines with Mom: This game involves the Squirms going through my stack of magazines and tearing the front covers into small shreds. Then, she carries a shred around the house as a toy. She especially likes to tear pages when I'm actually trying to read the magazine. One positive side effect: today she removed a Dior perfume add and I left it in her room to cover up the smell of two horrendous diapers from this morning.

The Ostrich: She loves, loves, loves, to bury her head into a stuffed animal, my leg, my hand, my arm. Make that three horrendous diapers. And just giggle. I'm not sure I'll ever understand why it brings such joy, but it's amazing to see. Today we spent six minutes on the floor of her room playing Squirms-puts-her-face-in-mom's-hand-and-laughs.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk: Pretend to drink milk. Hold in mouth. Spit milk out. Laugh. Repeat. I'm not encouraging this game, but it's still pretty funny to watch.

Uh-Oh: She likes to drop items from the changing pad and her high-chair and say uh-oh. Technically, I did teach her to say uh-oh when she drops something, but I didn't suspect she would turn to dropping things just to say uh-oh and smile as big as she can.

Chase the Roomba: She has learned how to turn on the Roomba. She likes to "help" clean the kitchen by turning it on and then carefully chasing it around the room.

Squirms the Toddler is inquisitive, silly, and affectionate. It is taking me a bit longer to adjust to this phase than her (but that's been true of each phase), but I'm slowly getting there. Everyone says they grow so fast. I wish someone had said and that means you must too!

Back to the games.