January 9, 2007 by Barbara.

I am not a pastry chef and Reid isn’t learning anything too fancy at my knee but I do let her help me when I bake, or in this case, when I make pudding. You can tell from this photo that she enjoys herself and besides, how many two year old know how to use a manual egg beater?

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January 9, 2007 by Barbara.

Reid and I got up 15 minutes late, which makes a big difference when we usually have 45 minutes from eyes opening to Reid getting in her car seat. Still, Ken was able to read Wheelies’ Trusty Tractor (no author), Peek-a-Who? by Nina Laden and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I love listening to Ken read to Reid. I love his voice any time and when he is reading in a silly voice or in a barely-awake voice, it’s perfect. This morning I had a lovely recitation that to acompany my shower.

Once we all got home, of course I was last to arrive, Reid was eager for once of us to read to her. Well, technically, she had already asked Ken to read to her but he was busy with supper. Throughout the evening we read:

• What hat is that? (no author) twice, a little popup book with a few hats;
• Busy Witch by Bettina Paterson twice;
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. Reid knows that the pigeon is not allowed to drive and she consistently says “no” when he begs and smiles at his pleas;
• Baby Farm Animals illustrated Garth Williams. I don’t remember this Little Golden Book from when I was a kid but the original publication date is from 1953 and the illustrations are such that you want to reach out and touch the fluffy animals depicted;
• Frozen Noses by Jan Carr, also twice, once in Mama’s voice and once in Daddy’s voice;
• Daddy’s Girl by Garrison Keillor read by Mama;
• Just Me and My Mom by Mercer Mayer read by Daddy (I’m not sure why we read them this way but that’s how things go); and
• A Duck in New York City by Connie Kaldor, that plucky ducky may be the “the little train that could” for Reid’s generation.

We haven’t listened to the CDs for Daddy’s Girl or Duck in New York City yet but now that Reid has noticed them, we will have to do so.

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January 9, 2007 by Barbara.

I took Reid to the Canadian Museum of Civilization for Twelfth Night celebrations on Saturday afternoon. Reading the blurb in the paper made it sound like quite a party, with dancing and cake and more. When we arrived, Reid was still wiping the sleep from eyes since we went straight from naptime to the car. She wasn’t interested in joining the circle dance demonstration, in fact she didn’t even want the shoes I’d brought along. In my grown up wisdom, I said she wouldn’t want to be clomping around in boots. In her toddler wisdom, she thought footwear was footwear and the shoes I offered didn’t make the cut. I decided I was silly for picking a fight on such matter but since I had only the shoes, I had to stick to my guns. Eventually, she put the shoes on and we rode the escalators. She wanted to take the same one down as up but I, her life guide, explained things didn’t work that way. We watched a bit of the dancing as we rode, or I did anyway. I asked the museum guide when the cake would be served since the dancing wasn’t remotely interesting to Reid and then we went to the Children’s Museum planning to come back.

We decorated a piece of construction paper - yellow, of course - to hold a calendar. Watching Reid cutting with such intense concentration made me think of how much improved her hand-eye coordination is lately. When I went to the open house at daycare, there was video of her and she was holding the scissors with both hands. On Saturday, while she couldn’t cut out pictures but she does make cuts into the paper while holding the scissors correctly. She was also interested in the hole punch (which we have) and bingo daubers (which we could get from the Dollar Store). Good craft ideas! Reid insisted on using the water fountain that has a stool to stand on. She didn’t want me to push the button because she could do it herself. What she couldn’t do, however, was push the button and drink at the same time. There were a couple of older ladies sitting on a bench watching this unfold. Reid was opening her mouth almost wide enough to swallow the basin of the fountain and was so determined to serve the water to herself. The ladies laughingly congratulated Reid when she finally got some water in her mouth.  We tried out the both the buggy and bicycle parts of a bicycle taxi and I gave Reid a “ride” in the motorcycle taxi. We got on and off of the bus a few times and Reid talked on the phone in the red telephone booth several times. I suggested that we could walk farther in to see some more exhibits but Reid wasn’t interested. We spent about 40 minutes in the initial exhibits and she had a blast. Next time we’ll have to try for the second 50 metres.

At 3:15, we headed back for the cake that was to be served at 3:30. They were cleaning up! First, I wouldn’t buy Reid a hamburger on the way to the museum. Then, I had to say we were too early for cake. Finally, the cake was gone. Guess who sprang for a treat at the museum cafeteria? Reid chose a big cup of fruit. She ate most of the watermelon, a couple pieces of pineapple, all of the cantaloupe but refused the green melon whose name I can never remember. I’m not sure if she was full or if it was the green colour or that I couldn’t name it. It worked out that the cake was gone. After our snack, we rode the escalators a bit more and then headed for home.

Here’s a picture of Reid concentrating as she uses the scissors.

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