Most days are pretty kidcentric these days, but in light of the rainy weather, Z and I tried a couple of new activities.First thing in the morning I wrapped Baby A in the Hug-a-bub and we took a walk through the neighborhood. Z monologued the whole time, observing everything and creating an exhaustive running commentary: "That car looks just like our car, right Mommy? Is that a toy someone lost on the ground, Mommy? Who lost that toy squirrel, Mommy? Was it a little boy or a little girl lost that wet squirrel? It was a child and not a grown-up lost that squirrel. Did they drop it and lose it, Mommy? Why? Why weren't they being careful and they dropped they's squirrel? Is now that squirrel is crying, crying for its Mommy. Right, Mom? Mommy? Why's that tree have red leaves? We're going for a walk around the block. Children always hold hands when they cross the street. Right Mommy? To be safe. We always hold hands. We don't run into the street!"
At 10am we attended Miss Tracey's Storytime at the Brown Cow with Gloria and her daughters (also 2 1/2 and brand new). It is a very popular event, and it soon became apparent why. Miss Tracey had all the kids completely entranced. She didn't read from books, as I expected. Rather, she engaged the under 4 crowd with silly antics and lots of audience participation.
This afternoon we headed south to Berwyn's Toy Trains and Models, an old-fashioned toy store with a heavy emphasis on trains (from Brio and Thomas to the big-deal, super-realistic model trains hobbyists go nuts over). Z spent about 5 minutes at a wooden train table before discovering the dolls (so much for gender neutrality). I was delighted to find an aisle dedicated to Playmobil and Ravensburger toys, both fabulous German toy brands I remember from my childhood in Berlin. We bought Z a little Playmobil set (a nursery with mommy, baby, a changing table, crib, and a few teeny, tiny accessories). I had as much fun assembling and setting it up as Z did playing with it.
