Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Wet weather plans


We were betwixt and between on Monday, were Alannah and I. Was it going to rain, or was it not going to rain. As it turned out, for about 30 minutes it teemed. So we did lots of indoor play. And it was indoor play in the morning. I was ready for this just in case, but BoM led me astray, it did.

We read lots of books: Tough Trucks, Roadworks, My Uncle's Donkey, and Waterhole. A number of times in various settings for each book. We did crayon writing, but I think I need more colours in the crayon case. So I set Alannah up on my computer table here, where I am typing this, wrote her name and she picked up the pencil and wrote away herself. Was it wishful thinking that she understood when I said that was her name? Yeah, probably. But she holds a pencil fairly well for someone who is not 18 months until Sunday.


We did our usual sorting with sticks and UNO cards. I added to this another set of cards produced by Usborne which is shape cards. Well, the cards are all large rectanngles but they have about a dozen shapes (4x) showing shape and word, eg circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval (which she can recognise and say, for some godforsaken reason), spiral, semi-circle, star, cross ... how many is that? Oh and heart. I have only introduced six to start with. We are not doing anything literate with them, just mixing them all up and then sorting them into three 'bins'.

So, now to the final two shots. I asked Kirsten's permission to post these two. Yes, she is upset, and yes, like a good journalist, I recorded the situation rather than go to her aid. So, what were the circumstances. It will not surprise you to know that it involves a cat. And the least obvious culprint - Sellie!

Sellie is the sweetest, most loving cat that I have. Yet she is also the most scared - she is the quintessential 'scaredy-cat'. She spends the first hour of my play-days with Alannah, hiding under the stairs, and I have to eventually coax her out. Once, she realises that all is okay, all she wants to do is come and nose-touch and rub against a leg. Even. Alannah's. leg. This time, however, we were about to go outside. The rain had stopped. It was after lunch. Things had dried a smidge and we had our hatties and our sunscreen on. But.

Sellie. was. atop. Ma's. toy. box. which. is. beside. the. door.

Alannah felt trapped. Sellie had to be coaxed to come to where I was before Alannah got a grip. A couple of times later in the afternoon, Alannah actually put her hand on Sellie's back. She feels most comfortable with the ginger cat, Sylvie, who is fat and old and lies on the sofa all day. You saw them together last week. I think it is safe to say, that the cat's blow Alannah's mind.

6 comments:

diane b said...

Allanah and I are soul mates when it comes to cats. She's going to be such a clever button.

freefalling said...

Awwww.
Hand wringing at such an early age!

Did she talk much about her Mum's swollen face?

Julie said...

I have not seen Kirsten since she came home on Sunday, spoken to her lots, but not seen her. But I gather her face has gone down markedly.

I gather from both K & D, that reactions were eating less, and a rather tacky line of poos. I am not sure that she became more clingy, even. Not here, but this is 'adjunct' not 'hearth'.

I think she is a a very secure, well-grounded toddler, who is taken into account, and ASKED what she would prefer. She doesn't always get it, but she is included.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I went to bed last night thinking of that little crumpled face. There is a real battle of wills going on between cat and girl. Would you walk past a lion? Little Alannah must think the cat is as scary.

Julie said...

Yes, it certainly is crumpled, I agree. And, no, I would not walk past a lion happily. However, not long after, outside in the yard, she was trying to pat Sellie. I look upon the crumpled face as learning occurring.

Kay L. Davies said...

One of my favourite things about babies is their feet, especially their toes, which seem to have some kind of ancient genetic memory making them grab at, and curl around, objects such as the hoop here. I don't think the child is necessarily conscious of it, in fact I think it is completely subconscious, and gone by the time the child is two years old or so.
This is purely an Auntie Kay Theory. The mothers in my family know there are a plethora of Auntie Kay Theories and most of them smile at me indulgently, although one, who shall remain nameless, snarls and says, "What the h... do you know, you've never been a mother!"
I cling, so to speak, to my genetic memory and temporarily-prehensile-toe theory.
Meanwhile, I'm sure Alannah understood you printed her name for her. If you do it every time you see her, I'll bet she'll start saying "name" or "me" or "mine" very soon, and "my name" not very long after that.
K