Samantha and Amelia have been busy inventing some new games recently. Samantha’s newest game is “Up Down.” Since she always wants to stand up in the bath tub, I started forcing her to sit down while repeating, “Down!” When she stood up, I’d say, “Up!” Pretty soon, she started bending her knees for down and then springing back up in the bath tub once she saw that Jake and I got really excited whenever she’d do this. She also plays Up Down in her crib and randomly while I’m doing laundry or washing bottles. Samantha stands up, bends down, stands up and then looks up for my reaction, giggling with joy when I nod and exclaim “Up! Down!” in praise. She’ll even do it on command, unless, of course, I’m trying to video her.
Amelia plays Run Away in other parts of the house as well. Today after lunch, I put Amelia down on the kitchen floor while I was cleaning up Samantha in her high chair. About thirty seconds elapsed when I realized Amelia wasn’t there anymore. I called her name and couldn’t hear any noise, which usually means trouble. I gasped as I realized I had left the garage door open, and dashed over to see if she had crawled into the garage, which she hadn’t. I then looked up from the hallway and found Amelia grinning down at me from near the top of the stairs. She had apparently scaled my downstairs barrier of diaper boxes and from there, had unlimited climbing access. Once she knew I was after her, she found the whole thing hilarious and started climbing higher as fast as she could.
Samantha’s other favorite game is called Touch Mommy. If I decide to clean up Amelia first after a meal and turn my back away from Samantha, she will reach out with her grubby, spaghetti-stained fingers and grab whatever article of clothing or skin she can reach. I’ll spin around and exclaim, in mock surprise, “SAMANTHA!” and then she’ll giggle deviously. I’ve pretty much given up on getting through the day without a clothing change anyway, so what’s another stain on my shirt?
In another variation of this game, the object is for me to kiss Samantha on the nose without her food-filled hands touching me/grabbing my hair/smearing blueberries all over my face. It’s like the baby version of Russian Roulette…the suspense is what keeps it fresh every time!
Of course, it’s all fun and games until Samantha bonks her chin on her way “down,” Amelia screams in protest when I grab her from the top of the stairs or edge of the bed, or Samantha pouts when I eventually have to hose the spaghetti off her fingers. They usually bounce back pretty quickly, though, and find some other game to play. Giggles are in no short supply around here!
Lots of love,
