Everyone is finally completely well in our house. Lily is running around with a Disney Princess blanket wrapped around herself, yelling "Bat Girl!" Her "cave" is the chair in the living room. She also periodically says "Eeee eeeee eeee" in what I believe is an attempt to copy a bat noise? She has put two foam heart stickers on her face, one on each cheek. I'm not sure if the stickers are general decoration or a part of the whole bat ensemble. Jack tried to talk to her, and she said "I'm not Lily! I'm Bat Lily!" Jack just looked confused. Now he runs up to her and then runs away saying "Ghost! Ghost! Scary!" Interesting how they are both playing together, but they are playing completely different games.
In between his attempts to play with Bat Lily/Ghost Lily, Jack is playing his favorite game, which is to bring me a small container and tell me it's coffee, which I must then pretend to sip while he says "Hot! Hot!" Occasionally he varies the game by accidentally "spilling" the coffee on me and saying "Oh NO! Messy! I spill!"
I'm just sitting here enjoying the show. My happiest time of the day is when both kids are playing together (or next to each other) with no fighting.
The game has taken a turn. Jack was running and shrieking "Eeee eeee eeee" and Lily called him a "Big fat bat head." Jack then went over to the window and said "Making coffee" while pretending to pour something into an empty container. Do you think Jack will end up working as a waitress? He's all about serving coffee.
Uh oh. Jack just ran over to Lily and threw Mr. Potato Head (a.k.a. Tato, according to Jack) at her. Now Lily says "Mama, something's wrong with the bat. EEEeee eeee, Hide!" When I asked her what was going on, she said "I saw a bad critter coming to destroy the house! Get out of the house! A big monster is coming to destroy the house. Come into my bat cave! You'll be safe in there!" Jack ran over and said "Eeee eee, Hide!" and "Bak Cave!" Now he is running and saying "Oooooh, Bat! Bat!" They're finally playing the same game. Lily just let him try on her bat cape/blanket, telling him "It's neato!"
Jack is dragging the blanket and saying "Oooh, oooh, Monsters! Monsters!" After a couple of passes by me, he got tired of dragging the giant blanket, and now he's just running around yelling about monsters without the "bat cape." Lily told him to get out of her house, so apparently they aren't playing together any more.
Now Lily is showing me how she "cleans" the window by pulling on the window cord to get water for washing and also to dry the window. Jack went over to see if he could get in on the action, but Lily threw his paper airplane to draw him away. Oh, now I see. Pulling the cord makes a towel come out for the drying process. After a few minutes, Lily proudly announced to me, "All clean!" and Jack the parrot said "All clean! All clean!" Now Lily is showing him how to clean the window. He paid very careful attention, but then he turned and ran around pretending to be an airplane until he fell on the floor. Lily said "I'll do your job for you." When he heard that, he came back over to the window. Lily said "Your job is all done!" Jack made a few swipes at the window and said "All done. Thank you!"
Now she's showing him how to do it again. Apparently, on Jack's side of the window, you rub a lego block on the window for soap and then squirt the window with a different block. Then "Your work's all done!" she says. Jack copies every move and says "I clean up. Clean up. All done!"
Now if only I could get them to play this game with real cloths and water, I would have one less household chore to take care of.
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Jack's Creative Play
The alternative title to this post should be "or How an Empty Container With Lid is More Fun Than a $30 Toy." Once again, I'm going to treat you to my observations of Jack playing in his natural habitat -- the living room. Sometimes I wish I could see into his mind to understand what he's thinking. Some of the things he says while he plays are intriguing. Anyway, here are my observations:
"Windmill! Windmill! Where's the Windmill?" he says while holding two DVDs in his hands. He throws them down and picks up the little satin box Lily got in Chinatown. He brings it to me. "Take it!" He put it on my lap and examines the little Chinese men with braids that are all around the box.
He goes over to the high chair and then comes back. "Milk!" He trips on his Hot Wheels track and falls down. "Ow!" He picks up a Play-Doh container and sys "Coffee! My milk! Milk! Milk" He starts crying. He struggles to climb into my lap. "Up, please!"
I lift him up and he points to the plastic tea pot lid next to me. "That one, please." I hand it to him. He half reclines next to me and puts the lid on the Play-Doh container. Then he takes it off and puts one of the chips from his snack into the container and shuts the lid. He opens it and says " Look!! all gone! No, all gone coffee!" He dumps out the chipand gets down from my lap, saying "B. U. B. U. B. U." He walks over to the radiator cover, turns around and says "Nope! All gone!"
He walks back over and climbs onto the sofa. He shows me the Play-Doh container. "Please, please, please. Look! All gone. Look! Hot hot! Look, all gone, hot! Look!" He pretends to take a sip. "Nope, all gone milk." He pretends to sip again and sings "me me me me my L L L L L." He gets down and walks over to the radiator cover again. He pretends to sip, pauses a moment to look at the TV, where they just showed an explosion. He comes back over to the couch, humming "MMMMMMMMM." He eats one of his snack chips and climbs back onto the sofa. He puts the lid back on the Play-Doh container. He opens it and says "All gone, no more. Uh oh!" He shakes the lid and then puts it back on. He cuddles next to me, and continues to open and close the container.
Suddenly he gets down. He carries the container to the middle of the room, turns and shows it to me, saying "Here take, take, I make bed. Where's blanky?" He goes over to the chair to get the brown throw. "Brown ! Brown! Brown! Little brown, brown brown, play. I make brown please. Brown, brown, brown. A brown. I make bed. Mmmmm, MAMA, make the bed, please. Make the bed please! MAMA! MAMA!"
I fold the throw to make it into a "bed". He gets in and lies down. He lies there playing with the Play-Doh container and lid. Suddenly he says "OWWW!" He turns onto his stomach and crawls out of the bed. He stands up. "I out of, please. Out." He whistles very faintly and walks over to the couch. He eats another snack chip and sings "'Doot doot doot. Dun dun dun dun dun, hmm hmm hmmm." He walks closer to me with his container and lid. He eats more chips. He holds the container with its lid on in two hands. "Hot! Hot! Oh, all gone!" He opens and closes the container repeatedly. "Oh, all gone! Oh, uh-oh! Breaking! Uh! Wow! Where'd it go? Uh? Uh-oh! Hee hee hee hee (giggling). Up high! Oh! Mommy, uh, way up. Uh oh. I hide, I hide. Uh oh, Uh! Uh-oh, where'd it go?" He pretends to twist the lid while opening and closing it. He pretends to sip and a chip he stored inside falls into his mouth. He eats it.
He climbs up on hassock at my feet and lies down. He kicks one leg into the air. He hops down and then gets up and lies on my leg. He hops down. "Other one, one, one," he says as he gets another chip and stores it in the cup. He comes back to hassock. He puts the lid on the container. "Uh-oh!" He opens it and closes it, and then "drinks" the chip out of the cup." He hums tunelessly "hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm." He tries to climb into my lap while continuing to hum. I ask if he wants to sit with me. He laughs and says "Uh oh, please!" He climbs onto me and the lid falls behind the couch. No doubt the lid will make it onto this week's couch detritus list!
"Windmill! Windmill! Where's the Windmill?" he says while holding two DVDs in his hands. He throws them down and picks up the little satin box Lily got in Chinatown. He brings it to me. "Take it!" He put it on my lap and examines the little Chinese men with braids that are all around the box.
He goes over to the high chair and then comes back. "Milk!" He trips on his Hot Wheels track and falls down. "Ow!" He picks up a Play-Doh container and sys "Coffee! My milk! Milk! Milk" He starts crying. He struggles to climb into my lap. "Up, please!"
I lift him up and he points to the plastic tea pot lid next to me. "That one, please." I hand it to him. He half reclines next to me and puts the lid on the Play-Doh container. Then he takes it off and puts one of the chips from his snack into the container and shuts the lid. He opens it and says " Look!! all gone! No, all gone coffee!" He dumps out the chipand gets down from my lap, saying "B. U. B. U. B. U." He walks over to the radiator cover, turns around and says "Nope! All gone!"
He walks back over and climbs onto the sofa. He shows me the Play-Doh container. "Please, please, please. Look! All gone. Look! Hot hot! Look, all gone, hot! Look!" He pretends to take a sip. "Nope, all gone milk." He pretends to sip again and sings "me me me me my L L L L L." He gets down and walks over to the radiator cover again. He pretends to sip, pauses a moment to look at the TV, where they just showed an explosion. He comes back over to the couch, humming "MMMMMMMMM." He eats one of his snack chips and climbs back onto the sofa. He puts the lid back on the Play-Doh container. He opens it and says "All gone, no more. Uh oh!" He shakes the lid and then puts it back on. He cuddles next to me, and continues to open and close the container.
Suddenly he gets down. He carries the container to the middle of the room, turns and shows it to me, saying "Here take, take, I make bed. Where's blanky?" He goes over to the chair to get the brown throw. "Brown ! Brown! Brown! Little brown, brown brown, play. I make brown please. Brown, brown, brown. A brown. I make bed. Mmmmm, MAMA, make the bed, please. Make the bed please! MAMA! MAMA!"
I fold the throw to make it into a "bed". He gets in and lies down. He lies there playing with the Play-Doh container and lid. Suddenly he says "OWWW!" He turns onto his stomach and crawls out of the bed. He stands up. "I out of, please. Out." He whistles very faintly and walks over to the couch. He eats another snack chip and sings "'Doot doot doot. Dun dun dun dun dun, hmm hmm hmmm." He walks closer to me with his container and lid. He eats more chips. He holds the container with its lid on in two hands. "Hot! Hot! Oh, all gone!" He opens and closes the container repeatedly. "Oh, all gone! Oh, uh-oh! Breaking! Uh! Wow! Where'd it go? Uh? Uh-oh! Hee hee hee hee (giggling). Up high! Oh! Mommy, uh, way up. Uh oh. I hide, I hide. Uh oh, Uh! Uh-oh, where'd it go?" He pretends to twist the lid while opening and closing it. He pretends to sip and a chip he stored inside falls into his mouth. He eats it.
He climbs up on hassock at my feet and lies down. He kicks one leg into the air. He hops down and then gets up and lies on my leg. He hops down. "Other one, one, one," he says as he gets another chip and stores it in the cup. He comes back to hassock. He puts the lid on the container. "Uh-oh!" He opens it and closes it, and then "drinks" the chip out of the cup." He hums tunelessly "hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm." He tries to climb into my lap while continuing to hum. I ask if he wants to sit with me. He laughs and says "Uh oh, please!" He climbs onto me and the lid falls behind the couch. No doubt the lid will make it onto this week's couch detritus list!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Observations From My Field Guide
For fun, I thought I'd write down my observations of what Jack did during one half hour of play. Here it is:
Jack is jumping up and falling face down the carpet. He says "Funny! That fun! Whoa!" and laughs. "Oh, Funny, Fun. That fun! I'm jumping." Activity continues for some time.
Jack stops his jumping and walks over to the couch. He picks up Jim's Nintendo DS and closes it. "Bye," he says, and then walks to the middle of the room. He bends over and puts his head on the ground. He looks at me from between his legs. Then he comes back over to the couch, picks up the game, says "Bye" and throws it onto the couch. He turns around and goes back to the middle of the room where he does his jumping and falling game for a while, shouting "Whoa!" each time.
After a bit, he grabs my keys and tries to insert them into an unidentified plastic item that is sitting on the coffee table. Then he turns back to the middle of the room and jumps and falls. He crawls back over to the coffee table to get the plastic item and the keys. He's singing "Doo doo doo doo doo doo" as he does it. Suddenly, he throws everything and makes a loud noise like "BBBBBRRIIIIIIINNG!" He laughs.
He turns back to the middle of the room and starts his jumping and falling while yelling "Whoa!" Then he rolls around on the ground for a bit. Eventually, he rolls onto his back abd pauses to watch TV. He taps the bottoms of this feet on the ground in a little rhythm. While doing so, he accidentally kicks his talking garbage truck and it makes a noise. He sits up and rolls the truck back and forth for a while. He pauses to lie down and look at TV. He taps his feet on the floor and kicks the truck some more.
After a few minutes, he sits up and spots Oskar. He crawls over to the cat, stands up and says "Meow! meow!" Oskar backs away behind the TV cabinet. Jack closes the doors to the TV cabinet and then goes back over to Oskar, who peers out from behind the cabinet. "Meow! Meow!" He tries to grab tail as Oskar runs towards the dining room. He chases him and successfully grabs Oskar's tail and pulls. He says "Meow! Meow!" Oskar hides under the dining room table, so Jack lays down and looks under the chair. He gets up and goes after cat under the table. "Meow! Meow!" Oskar bats at him and then runs out from under the table, so Jack stands up and chases him for a bit. Jack does a little dance and sings "Hoo hoo." The cat comes back and Jack runs around the table. He crawls under the table and tries to grab the cat, banging his head. Then he says "Ow ow ow." He crawls out and comes over to me, pointing at his hand. "Poke a cat. A poke cat. A poke cat." I'm guessing Oskar caught him with his claws.
Jack goes back to his jumping and falling game and then lies on his back and looks up at me.
He sits up and looks around. He crawls in a circle and makes nonsense noises. He goes over to the hot wheels track, which is in two pieces and picks it up. He says "What happened?" He tries to put the track together, without success. He knocks the top part of the track on its side and says "A gate! A gate! A gate! GAAATTTE! A Gate! A Gate Jackie." He steps over it and puts his head on the ground and looks at me between his legs. He says "Funny, A funny." He gets up and steps back over the track, tripping a bit. "Oww. A Gate!" He steps over again and this time purposely kicks it "OWWW. "Breaking GATE!" Then he stands on the other portion of track and says "A Gate! A Gate!
He runs over to me and butts the laptop cover. He tries to close it with his head several times. Then he runs to the chair and flings himself onto it, yelling "Down!" He gets down and tries to fix the tracks with no luck. After a few second, he stops and looks briefly at TV. He turns back to the tracks. "Gate Stepping!" He steps over and throws himself back into the chair. He takes the throw from the chair and drags it onto the floor, saying "No, No, Don't. Ha Ha!" He covers the track with the blankets and yells "Gate! A Gate! Gate stepping!" He throws himself back into the chair and says "Jack jumping!" He stands up and jumps on chair, saying "I jump!" He slides off and then gets back on the chair, lies down and looks at me. He gets off and then back on. This time he rests on his tummy. He gets down and says "Breaking. I breaking. Break! Break gate" and then gets back into the chair, saying "No no no." He gets off again, saying "No no! No no no break my gate. No gate."
He finds that plastic thing again and goes into the dining room "A house!" He comes back and gets my keys, yelling "AHHH" "Ahhh!" all the way back to the dining room. He sticks the keys into the fake outlet on wall, and then into the plastic thing. You can see him concentrate really hard to get the keys into the plastic thing. He comes back into the living room saying "Jumping!" He puts the key and plastic thing down on the heater cover and works on getting the keys in. Then he moves it around like car, picks it up and brings it over to the pie safe. He drives it around on the middle shelf like a car, concentrating very hard. Then he starts scratching it back and forth quickly. He moves the plastic to the bottom shelf andscratches there, then to the top, and then to the inside of the door. When that palls, he drops the plastic and brings my keys over. As he returns, he sees his binky. "B!" he yells, dropping my keys to pick it up.
He puts the binky in his mouth and goes to the coffee table. He goes over to the chair and leans on it for a second. He straightens up and says "Mmm-hmmm! (his way of saying yes)" He walks over to the hassock and plays with some small, empty boxes that he took out of the pie safe earlier. He says "Mmmm-hmmm" He starts throwing boxes down to the floor, saying "No no no no no noooooo!" He repeats the word "no" as he throws all of the boxes onto the floor. He turns and kicks the boxes into the bottom of the pie safe. He picks one box up and puts it into the pie safe, and then pulls several boxes out onto the floor. He is talking to himself, but I can't understand him because of the Binky. He brings some boxes over to the hassock, and talks to himself some more. The only part I understood was "Jack jack." He opens a box, and takes out a square piece of styrofoam with a hole in the center.
At this point, my recorded TV show ends and Sesame street comes on. He pauses and notices Sesame Street. Then he takes out a second foam square with a hole in center and puts on floor "Potty!" He grabs the first piece and says "Another one potty!" He tries to sit on one piece like a potty. "Nooooo." He tries to break the styrofoam. "A potty." He sits on second piece and scoots across the floor on it. He puts both pieces together and sits on them. He looks around room. He pauses to watch Sesame for a bit. He goes over to the window and pulls himself off ground up on table. He gets down and knocks a few of the videos on the table onto the floor, saying "MM-hmmm." He kicks the videos and then pushes them away from portable heater which is under the table. He spends quite a bit of time trying to turn the heater on and off (it's not plugged in). He does it while sitting, standing on one leg, and then crouching. "Where light?" Where light? Hot, hot." Eventually, he puts heater back under the table, stands up and looks at the children's books on the table. He picks one up and then drops it back on the table. His attention is caught by Sesame Street and he sits down to watch. He's pretty tired now, and frankly, so am I for typing this up!
Jack is jumping up and falling face down the carpet. He says "Funny! That fun! Whoa!" and laughs. "Oh, Funny, Fun. That fun! I'm jumping." Activity continues for some time.
Jack stops his jumping and walks over to the couch. He picks up Jim's Nintendo DS and closes it. "Bye," he says, and then walks to the middle of the room. He bends over and puts his head on the ground. He looks at me from between his legs. Then he comes back over to the couch, picks up the game, says "Bye" and throws it onto the couch. He turns around and goes back to the middle of the room where he does his jumping and falling game for a while, shouting "Whoa!" each time.
After a bit, he grabs my keys and tries to insert them into an unidentified plastic item that is sitting on the coffee table. Then he turns back to the middle of the room and jumps and falls. He crawls back over to the coffee table to get the plastic item and the keys. He's singing "Doo doo doo doo doo doo" as he does it. Suddenly, he throws everything and makes a loud noise like "BBBBBRRIIIIIIINNG!" He laughs.
He turns back to the middle of the room and starts his jumping and falling while yelling "Whoa!" Then he rolls around on the ground for a bit. Eventually, he rolls onto his back abd pauses to watch TV. He taps the bottoms of this feet on the ground in a little rhythm. While doing so, he accidentally kicks his talking garbage truck and it makes a noise. He sits up and rolls the truck back and forth for a while. He pauses to lie down and look at TV. He taps his feet on the floor and kicks the truck some more.
After a few minutes, he sits up and spots Oskar. He crawls over to the cat, stands up and says "Meow! meow!" Oskar backs away behind the TV cabinet. Jack closes the doors to the TV cabinet and then goes back over to Oskar, who peers out from behind the cabinet. "Meow! Meow!" He tries to grab tail as Oskar runs towards the dining room. He chases him and successfully grabs Oskar's tail and pulls. He says "Meow! Meow!" Oskar hides under the dining room table, so Jack lays down and looks under the chair. He gets up and goes after cat under the table. "Meow! Meow!" Oskar bats at him and then runs out from under the table, so Jack stands up and chases him for a bit. Jack does a little dance and sings "Hoo hoo." The cat comes back and Jack runs around the table. He crawls under the table and tries to grab the cat, banging his head. Then he says "Ow ow ow." He crawls out and comes over to me, pointing at his hand. "Poke a cat. A poke cat. A poke cat." I'm guessing Oskar caught him with his claws.
Jack goes back to his jumping and falling game and then lies on his back and looks up at me.
He sits up and looks around. He crawls in a circle and makes nonsense noises. He goes over to the hot wheels track, which is in two pieces and picks it up. He says "What happened?" He tries to put the track together, without success. He knocks the top part of the track on its side and says "A gate! A gate! A gate! GAAATTTE! A Gate! A Gate Jackie." He steps over it and puts his head on the ground and looks at me between his legs. He says "Funny, A funny." He gets up and steps back over the track, tripping a bit. "Oww. A Gate!" He steps over again and this time purposely kicks it "OWWW. "Breaking GATE!" Then he stands on the other portion of track and says "A Gate! A Gate!
He runs over to me and butts the laptop cover. He tries to close it with his head several times. Then he runs to the chair and flings himself onto it, yelling "Down!" He gets down and tries to fix the tracks with no luck. After a few second, he stops and looks briefly at TV. He turns back to the tracks. "Gate Stepping!" He steps over and throws himself back into the chair. He takes the throw from the chair and drags it onto the floor, saying "No, No, Don't. Ha Ha!" He covers the track with the blankets and yells "Gate! A Gate! Gate stepping!" He throws himself back into the chair and says "Jack jumping!" He stands up and jumps on chair, saying "I jump!" He slides off and then gets back on the chair, lies down and looks at me. He gets off and then back on. This time he rests on his tummy. He gets down and says "Breaking. I breaking. Break! Break gate" and then gets back into the chair, saying "No no no." He gets off again, saying "No no! No no no break my gate. No gate."
He finds that plastic thing again and goes into the dining room "A house!" He comes back and gets my keys, yelling "AHHH" "Ahhh!" all the way back to the dining room. He sticks the keys into the fake outlet on wall, and then into the plastic thing. You can see him concentrate really hard to get the keys into the plastic thing. He comes back into the living room saying "Jumping!" He puts the key and plastic thing down on the heater cover and works on getting the keys in. Then he moves it around like car, picks it up and brings it over to the pie safe. He drives it around on the middle shelf like a car, concentrating very hard. Then he starts scratching it back and forth quickly. He moves the plastic to the bottom shelf andscratches there, then to the top, and then to the inside of the door. When that palls, he drops the plastic and brings my keys over. As he returns, he sees his binky. "B!" he yells, dropping my keys to pick it up.
He puts the binky in his mouth and goes to the coffee table. He goes over to the chair and leans on it for a second. He straightens up and says "Mmm-hmmm! (his way of saying yes)" He walks over to the hassock and plays with some small, empty boxes that he took out of the pie safe earlier. He says "Mmmm-hmmm" He starts throwing boxes down to the floor, saying "No no no no no noooooo!" He repeats the word "no" as he throws all of the boxes onto the floor. He turns and kicks the boxes into the bottom of the pie safe. He picks one box up and puts it into the pie safe, and then pulls several boxes out onto the floor. He is talking to himself, but I can't understand him because of the Binky. He brings some boxes over to the hassock, and talks to himself some more. The only part I understood was "Jack jack." He opens a box, and takes out a square piece of styrofoam with a hole in the center.
At this point, my recorded TV show ends and Sesame street comes on. He pauses and notices Sesame Street. Then he takes out a second foam square with a hole in center and puts on floor "Potty!" He grabs the first piece and says "Another one potty!" He tries to sit on one piece like a potty. "Nooooo." He tries to break the styrofoam. "A potty." He sits on second piece and scoots across the floor on it. He puts both pieces together and sits on them. He looks around room. He pauses to watch Sesame for a bit. He goes over to the window and pulls himself off ground up on table. He gets down and knocks a few of the videos on the table onto the floor, saying "MM-hmmm." He kicks the videos and then pushes them away from portable heater which is under the table. He spends quite a bit of time trying to turn the heater on and off (it's not plugged in). He does it while sitting, standing on one leg, and then crouching. "Where light?" Where light? Hot, hot." Eventually, he puts heater back under the table, stands up and looks at the children's books on the table. He picks one up and then drops it back on the table. His attention is caught by Sesame Street and he sits down to watch. He's pretty tired now, and frankly, so am I for typing this up!
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