Are you for real?

Babykins has long been a fan of including people in her play.  She'll often try to feed us bites of her food, and there's nothing she like more than carrying her phone from person to person so that everyone has a chance to participate in her pretend conversations.

Recently, Babykins and I were playing telephone.  When she handed me the phone, I said hello and pretended the person on the line wanted to talk to Cooper (her teddy bear).  After exclaiming that they wanted to talk to Cooper, I handed the phone back to Babykins who immediately turned, ran to Cooper, and held the phone to his ear. 

She waited a moment nodding (I imagine Cooper had sage words to impart), then brought the phone to her own ear, babbled a minute, and brought the phone back to me.  And so began her newly expanded imaginary play.

Since then Babykins has offered her food and pacifier to her baby doll, has allowed most of her stuffed animals a turn on her phone, and has even started having her doll lean against the wall in the elevator, just like she sees the grown-ups do.

These imaginary games don't hold her attention very long right now, but I can hardly wait until the day Babykins invites me to a tea party with all of her stuffed toys.

Mimimimi

Babykins and I spend approximately 50 hours each week having intense together time.  As a result, I'm always on the look out for new and exciting ways to keep her entertained.  Along with the many toys and books Babykins has, almost every plastic kitchen tool I own has served as a play thing, as well as boxes of tissues, a roll of toilet paper, and many piles of laundry.

Last week, as I was lying on the floor letting Babykins crawl back and forth over my legs, I suddenly flashed back to a happy memory of a childhood game.  I remember being 4 or 5, sitting on the floor next to Grandpa P, and he would pretend to fall asleep, closing his eyes and fake snoring, "Mimimimi."  I would laugh, shake his shoulder, and call his name (which at that age I knew only as "Grandpa" - I was still years away from realizing he had an actual name) trying to wake him up.  After a few seconds he would suddenly open his eyes wide, and the game could begin all over again.

Although Babykins is only 10 months old, I thought I'd give the game a try with her.  I waited until she was looking at me, closed my eyes, and said, "Mimimimi."  I fake snored a few more times, then peeked an eye open to see her response.  She was sitting there smiling, flapping her arms in her "I'm excited" motion.  I closed my eye, snored again, and felt her little hand on my face.  When I popped open my eyes, she sat back and laughed in delight.

It's become a favorite game for Babykins.  I can lie down on the floor, close my eyes, say "Mimimimi," and she'll come crawling from anywhere in the room to push on my face and wake me up.  Thank you, Grandpa P, for the happy memories and new game inspiration.