Dinosaurs in the Trees

The other night, C and I were pulling into the lake house for the weekend when she said, "Mommy, shhhhhh."

Me: (whispering) What is it?

C: It's a dinosaur.

Me: Wow! Where is it?

C: It's in the trees. Don't worry. It's hiding.

Her imagination is in full swing these days and I am loving it. She lives in a magical world where everything talks and everything is real. 

While I cooked dinner the other night, I overheard her playing in the living room and walked in to find her enacting a scene with finger puppets. She had a princess puppet upside down in a rhythm instrument saying "help me, help me!" Then, the knight (which she calls a "prince") said, "to the rescue!" and got her out. Then, they kissed. 

Sometimes, her imagination is too close to reality. Today, while playing in her baby pool on the deck, she said, "look, Mommy, a mouse!" I freaked out and ran over to see what she was talking about. I asked her where it was and she pointed in the pool and said, "right there. See? It's swimming."

She often reads books to her stuffed animals; her babies cry and need bottles; her trains get encouragement as they crest the mountain ("Great job! You did it!"). Everyone dances. Everything has feelings. Everyone has a name (thought most of them are Catherine). 

I get to live in a special world these days.

Imagination Station

Sometimes I have to stop doing for a minute and just watch my child's imagination explode before me. It's amazing, really. I fear that while these sweet little moments are fresh in my mind now, I won't remember them later. In a few months, she will be doing so much more. Her language skills will improve and her imaginary playtime will develop into something new and altogether just as amazing. But, for the sake of my fleeting memory that is threatened daily by Elmo and sleep deprivation, these are some of my favorites at 23 months:

• She plays with her food. As in, she takes a bite of a pancake, cocks her head and looks at it, then exclaims an animal she now sees ("a donkey! Hee haw") while she makes it trot across the table.
• She is an excellent cook. She cooks play-doh meals and presents them to me. They are typically cookies, cakes, pancakes, or pasta. No surprise there. When she takes something out of the "oven," she uses an oven mitt and tells me it's hot. Then she takes a fork and takes pretend bites with me while saying, "yummm." 

She also makes food for Banks. He's not very good at pretend eating though.

• She doesn't like to color in the lines. She likes a blank canvas. I only figured this out this week. I love coloring. I owned coloring books far before she was born, so I did not understand why she wouldn't sit and color with me. Then, I gave her a blank piece of paper and she was in her element. She scribbles on the page and tells me it's a blue puppy or a black sheep. She draws a squiggle and proudly exclaims, "C!" "More paper?" she asks. She will paint and color as long as I keep the paper coming, just as long as it doesn't have lines!

• She loves dancing. She has lots of signature moves, but she recently gave one a new name. She has a Disney princess castle and when you turn a pedestal, the princesses twirl. So now, whenever she twirls, she says, "I dancing princess."
• She likes to make her toys dance together. Often, I will find her humming while a hippo dances with Snow White. Sometimes they kiss and hug too.
• It's no secret I take tons of pictures of her. Last night, I looked over while I was cooking dinner and she was squatting with a magnet up to her face, her eyes squinted, saying "cheese" as she pretended to take pictures.

My little corner of the world is certainly entertaining these days. It's magical, really. I wonder, if I spend enough time on her level, will I see the world like she does?