Play Now

It wasn’t too long ago that I was watching in amazement as my little girl was lying on her back, reaching up to bat at a small toy hanging from her play mat. 

She couldn’t even roll over at that time, but the look in her eye showed me that she understood what she was doing. She was playing.

It’s no surprise that as her motor skills developed, her playing became more sophisticated – and vice versa. Whether she was crawling to a ball or taking those first few steps to reach some other toy, her desire and curiosity ultimately led her to develop muscles and coordination so she could reach, pick up, grasp and even more accurately direct those things into her mouth. And along the way, she was having fun, too.

Nowadays, a typical routine is for her to walk over to the bookshelf, pull out every single book, pick through the pile and bring over the one she wants us to read. 

She may even decide to read it herself, turning every page very carefully and reading in her own language. Sometimes she’ll grab one of her many cars and either push it around the condo or ride on it a few feet.  But all of that is pretty tame, really.

I like to refer to Finley as a “stunt baby” because she purposely takes dives and falls, climbs whatever she can and pretty much does her best to mess up any type of hairdo mommy has put together.

No night is complete without seeing her running as fast as she can and crashing into a toy or one of us. She likes to flop onto her little couch or dive into the little fabric playhouse we got for her or dump all the toys out of her toy bucket and climb in to it and tip it over. And like any good athlete, she only really stops to grab a drink.

Of course all of this running and jumping doesn’t just wear HER out… Mommy and daddy are getting plenty of exercise these days, too. Whether Mommy is chasing the munchkin around the dining table or Daddy is lifting the stunt baby up and down and up and down, the whole family is getting into the Finley Fitness craze.

We’re also starting to get into another area that is more than just physical. Imagination play is beginning. It’s in the very early stages, but she’s really good at seeing more than one way to play with a toy or an object. We’re helping her discover that something like a laundry basket can be a car, a boat, a drum, a stage or even a place to hide. And she loves it. 

In fact, I often wonder why she has toys when she has the most fun with the laundry basket or even a plain old box. But then again, as she gets older, flashing lights and other cool toys will probably replace boxes and bins.

At this point, I’m not only glad she’s energetic and driven, I’m glad she lets us be a part of it. After all, until a brother or sister comes along, we’re the playmates. And that’s fine with me. I think I can handle playing with my daughter for a while… maybe even the rest of her life (or the point where she gets embarrassed, which will probably be sooner).