Games with Mommy

The pick-up game


My mom warned me about this one, and it has finally happened.  Amazingly, he likes to do it with just one toy, in one place: a soft fabric book while we're sitting in his nursing rocking/glider chair in his bedroom.  We read a lot of books in that chair, and this particular one (that really doesn't look as much like a book given it has flexible fabric pages) has become his favorite thing to throw on the ground.  Then, while sitting on my lap, he ritually bends down to look at it, grunts his version of "Uh oh, it fell down again", and then waits for me to pick it up.  Once I do, he pretty much immediately throws it right back down again to repeat the cycle.

Peek-a-boo, now let me come find you (aka our version of hide and seek)


Since Evan is now mobile, and loves to break free of the living room, I've started to encourage him by playing hide and seek.  I get down on my hands and knees, peek around the couch at him saying "Peek-a-boo" and then I duck back around the corner of the couch.  He finds this fascinating, as he loves the peek-a-boo part, but then I think he loves the challenge of coming to find me too.  I often poke around the corner a few times while he's making his way toward me (as sometimes he'll even stop part way to wait for another peek-a-boo "clue" to where I am).  I've even been so daring as to move around the back of the couch, so that when he finally peeks around the corner I'm not there anymore!  Sure, that sounds mean, but he finds that extra challenge of finding me great fun, as he shrieks with excitement when he finds me peeking around the next corner.  This game means he gets to crawl out of the living room, which he thinks is awesome, and then when he finds me he thinks that's pretty cool too.  And honestly, so do I.  I love this game. :)

The "No" game (that's really not a game)

While this game is really not a game, it sure is in Evan's eyes.  He'll crawl toward something he shouldn't touch, and just as I call out his name to say "no", he'll stop and turn to look at me.  The expression on his face is priceless.  Something like an innocent "Yes, Mommy, you called?", but at the same time I know he's contemplating going right back to what he was doing (because that's exactly what he does after he's paused to look at me).  This "game" is often played in the living room floor as he wants to touch the stereo/electronics on the shelves of the TV stand, but was most recently played as he was grabbing at (and pulling on) the vertical blinds by the back sliding door in our dining room.  This new location for being naughty (in our dining room) is thanks to his newly found freedom by crawling outside the borders of the living room.

Recently I decided to snap a photo of his reaction to "Evaaaan....no." What do you think he's thinking?