Conversations and play

E is playing. She is perfectly absorbed in her own company.  Animals are going in and out of the farm house in an order apparent to no one but herself. A running commentary accompanies it.

Look at this place. That where aminals live. Come right here.

Can I come in, say tiger?

Yes.

Can I come in, say dog?

Yes. You must stay in.

Oh no, where is pig? Pig fell down. Oh look, Mummy, I found hen! I found hen! But where is ankleosaurus? I don’t know where ankleosaurus is.

That’s allll of the aminals.

Now let’s shut the door.

All of the aminals are going to bed.

I am enjoying 10 minutes to drink an interrupted cup of tea and marvelling at the pleasures of a $4 plastic farmhouse from the op shop!

Conversations with my chatterbox

A random monologue on Granny's garden:
Granny has a duck in her garden. Aunty Suse bought it for her birthday. Sometimes it rains in Granny's garden. Granny has new swings.

This dialogue with E playing all parts I overheard whilst lurking hopefully by her bedroom door to see if she had gone to sleep yet:

Hello, Olephant.

Would you like a biscuit?

Yes, I would like it.

Let’s eat it, Olephant.

Careful, Olephant, you’ll fall down.

Whilst pretending to be Curious George on the trapeze swing at Granny and Grandad's (and fortunately, I might add, not in the park or somewhere else public):
Granny, I want to go in a cage. Put me in a cage, Granny! Put me in a cage and lock it with a key! I want to go in a cage with a balloon on my hand!

(2 years and 5 months).

(With apologies to Kylie from Octavia and Vicky for stealing her post idea.)

Book of the Week: Ladbird Favourite Fairytales

I'm attempting to resurrect my much neglected Book of the Week series.

This week's seal of approval goes to the Ladybird versions of classic fairytales.* Little E received "Little Red Hen", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" for her second birthday and has been having a great time with them. They would be good for early readers to practice on, but they are also fun to read aloud. I am really enjoying her enjoyment of such familiar stories.

They are straightforward renditions of the classic tales, with a bit of rhyme and humour. The illustrations are bright and simple. Most pages involve the characters making a comment in speech bubbles which is lost on Little E but which I think would be appealing to a child learning to read. The books themselves are hardcover but with paper pages (ie, not board books) and they are cute easy-to-hold squares.

E is particularly enthusiastic about The Three Little Pigs. Her "rest" yesterday consisted of her going to bed with a pile of books and yelling "little pig little pig let me in" at the top of her voice for 20 minutes.

I was initially a little apprehensive that E would be frightened or upset by some of the more gruesome aspects of fairytales but it hasn't bothered her so far, quite possibly because she doesn't understand it. The demise of the first two pigs is phrased as something like "and that was the end of the first little pig." When D paused his recital of the story to ask E what she thought happened to the pig, she said "he ran home to his mummy."

Needless to say, all four of these books get big thumbs-up from us.

 *This is not a sponsored post.

Left to her own devices ...

... E decided to wear her hat inside and show her toys a good time.