Yes, we still have a daughter

Even though our lives have been very Tad-centric recently, we haven’t forgotten Ane. Lest you think that she’s standing on the sidelines, here’s what she’s been up to.

The day before Tad broke his arm, she fell in love with a 9 piece two-sided puzzle that Nana and Papa had given Tad for his birthday. Since he really has no interest in puzzles right now (they don’t have wheels), I was fine with letting her play with it. She has discovered a deep love for puzzles. She spent 90 minutes with this one puzzle on the first day – put it together, take it apart, flip it over, wash, rinse, repeat. It was incredible to watch her. It was if I was seeing a whole new side of her brain develop – which I probably was.

So, to give her some more puzzles to work on while I tried to find some more of these 9 piece puzzles, I brought out three of my old wood jigsaw puzzles. And we are talking old – Sesame Street vintage early 80’s, wood board jigsaw, made in the USA old – and she began putting them together and taking them apart just as easily as the 9 piece ones. I was glad that there were three of them as I continued to hunt for more puzzles.

Then I decided to take a chance. When we were out shopping at Target, I let her pick out a 24 piece puzzle for herself. It turned out to be the answer to my problems. A 24 piece puzzle is just the right amount of challenge for Ane. It takes her a little longer to put it together, but the number of pieces means that it’s not so hard that it frustrates her into quitting. And at $3-$4 apiece for a cardboard 24 piece puzzle, I can stand going without a few frappucinos to buy her some puzzles. I have a few on standby to give her on those days when I need to take Tad to the doctor, so she feels like I’m not neglecting her in favor of her brother.

Along with her puzzles, she has discovered another new love – the My First Little House books. After our visit to Missouri this summer, I tried reading Little House in the Big Woods to Ane. While she was interested, there was too much exposition and too few pictures to hold her attention. So I went hunting around for an alternative, and found this series of picture-book adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s first few books. She loves them, and is constantly asking me to read her “Laura” books to her. I’m so glad we found these.

And she starts preschool in just a couple of weeks. She’s excited, I’m excited for her, and right now I am cross-stitching her name and a cute little teddy bear on a tote bag for her. The preschool has asked that the kids all use tote bags instead of backpacks. We found a good selection at Jo Ann Fabrics – denim, canvas, and vinyl tote bags – and when offered a pink vinyl tote or a denim one, she picked the denim one and said, “I want Mommy to sew on it. I want my name in pink.” So I am, and her name will be stitched in pink.

So, even though she probably feels that Tad is getting too much attention/sympathy/treats right now, she’s not being neglected, either. She’s keeping busy and she’s standing on the brink of a completely new and life-changing experience: preschool. We live in interesting times, let me tell you, and Ane is very much involved in it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 10:36 am and is filed under Children.
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