At Play

Many stay-at-home moms often get asked, "what do you do all day?!" As if being home with kids is somehow the most boring thing they can think of. These people obviously never had a baby, because those of us who have had one realize how much work they are. But, what about when they get older? A friend of mine once replied, "I play with them." And really, that's what we do all day, we play. Sometimes the playing about wears you out (I have certainly had those days when if I have to read one more story or pretend to have trouble finding Ashtyn during a rousing game of hide-and-seek one more time I think I'll burst) but a lot of times, it's just plain fun. Fun to go out exploring, fun to paint, fun to cook pretend food, fun to build forts, fun to watch them develop. Here's just a little taste of our playing this past week.

We told Ashtyn she needed to be dressed to go outside. So she got a hat. She says it keeps the rain off.... Sorta missed the idea there, but whatever.

Can't play outside due to all the rain, warm and dry in here!

What do you do when it rains everyday for over a week? Go on a mushroom "treasure hunt" of course!

Watching baby ducks.

For about two weeks, this scene could be found randomly throughout the house. Ashtyn would tell you that, "the puppy is using his proboscis to get a drink of juice."

Ashtyn enjoys this play mat more than Corinne does--she thinks all the little dangly toys are a lot of fun to hook on and off. Corinne, she just prefers to be held.

Corinne has been getting pretty good at reaching for things lately. She loves to gaze in amazement at her hands and slowly reach towards interesting objects. I've noticed her watching closely as I take a drink water or hold other objects. Her favorite little toy is the "jingly bug" that has a little bell inside of it (thank you cousin Jana!). It's Ashtyn's secret weapon for stopping Corinne from fussing when she has to wait a minute for Mom.

Here she is munching on the jingly bug's antennae.

And here she is reaching.

I think these videos are pretty funny. One is of Corinne going "kick crazy" as we call it. She does that at least once a day. The other is of her going "squeal crazy" which is her new favorite noise. She cycles through different noises every now and again, and this is her latest and greatest. She pretty much does it all day long. The image is really dark (sorry about that--the shades were down) but it's the sound that is so funny.