Mogs, a friend to the animals!

Inspired by Uncommon Grace’s photo project and the wonderfully delightful writing on toddler rearing from Write, Mama, Write, I wanted to share a little about my Mogs. 

She’ll be turning two this week!  I cannot believe how amazingly tender a soul she has.  Although our first year together was challenging (since I had PPD), I feel lucky everyday to have her in my life.   Lately, I’ve noticed how poignant it is to observe your child out in the world separate from you.  We attend a parenting class where the children play in the next room during the class session.  Through the one-way mirror I see her listening to the assistant reading a story, grazing the snack table (gobbling up all the fruit the other kids leave behind) and happily riding around on various little scooters while carefully watching everyone around her.  She notices the smallest details (”Goldbug!”) and wants to try to do everthing herself.  Some of her current favorite things:

• Taking things in and out of the refrigerator and “cleaning” everything with a washcloth.
• Dancing to “Bob” in the living room (Bob Dylan).  She has this very inventive hop-prance dance and a Motown slide move.  She also likes to do the “Buffalo Stance.”
• She always wants “More Singing”
• Her favorite places are sitting on my lap and eating at the Bakery, which she calls the “Bank.” (We were very confused about that one for a month…”What?  You want to go to the bank?!?”)
• She asks to go see horses every day.
• She has a favorite “YouTube”video (about horses!), can work the mouse pretty well and points at the computer and yells “blog!”
• Her idea of a good time is taking the bus downtown and pointing at every bus that we see and yelling “bus!”
• All her stuffed animals, which are all named “Sarah.” She sleeps with at least five of them a night.
• She loves painting and wants us to hang her finished paintings “up….high.”
• She and her daddy have special time reading together before bed each night. 
• She has finally begun to make friends with our cats.  (All went well until she decided to bop Asa on the head with her book!)