Sunday

Today was one of those rare days when it's just P and me and we have no plans. The day evolved but we had a couple of breakthroughs.  First, P is the one who directed what we did and second, we actually cleaned up as we went along!  It usually takes a lot for her to clean up but today she went along with it without a fight or delay.

P pulled out the games and puzzles out of her game drawer after breakfast. First time she's shown an interest. First we played the fishing game. 

You have to collect either the same color or number on the fish until you fill your boat up with 4.  You fish and if you catch the wrong fish you put it back.  It never mattered where I put my bad fish back, or if P saw it. This time she saw I picked up one of her orange fish and saw where I put it back. When it was her turn she went and grabbed it! Too smart!

Next we put a puzzle together. Amazed she seems to figure out the harder pieces first.  I need to stop telling her how I would go about putting it together and let her do her thing. 

Then, we played with her stacking alphabet boxes.  It's been at least a year since she pulled that out! After stacking it I asked her to find certain letters.  She got some but didn't get others. Then, it surprised me to see her looking at the letters on the boxes and drawing them on paper!  Woohoo! She's getting it and she's showing an interest. 

We finally started cleaning up.  She wanted to paint or stamp as I had first suggested. I asked her if we could clean up some mess before starting an art project. We cleaned, she sort of played and cleaned. I did some stuff on the computer.  We cleaned, we played, on got on the computer again. Finally outside. She played, while I cleaned the back yard a bit. Finally we painted. 

I had some lanterns left over from her last birthday.  We decided we could paint them orange and turn them into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.  

When we finished painting we cleaned it all up! Again, a first! Then we made lunch, salad and quesadilla for me. For her it was salad, quesadilla, apple sauce, probiotic drink and turkey and cheese!  Growth spur? Then she took a nap after lunch.

It's almost 5pm. She's still napping. Neither one of us has gotten out of our pjs. it's been a remarkable day.  I pray we will have days like this till the day she leaves for college.  I really really love my time with P!  I remember it being so hard when she was a baby and then a walking, curious toddler.  The dynamic of being around her has changed. I have a buddy.

Getty

We've done some fun things in the weeks since I've last blogged. Best adventure was going to the Getty. I've taken P to the Getty Villa several times but this was her first time to the Getty off the 405.

Their kid's section is amazing. Absolutely amazing!  It's divided into five separate rooms or cubicles, each inspired by art throughout the center.  One room had a giant, backlit, manuscript wall where the kids could draw on it like a dry erase board.  P LOVED it!   She's moved on from a paining phase to a drawing phase so this was her cup of tea. 

The next room was inspired by the King Louis bed located in the museum. This version was small but took up the entire space.  It was done just like the real thing with ornate, blue silk with tassels and rolled pillows on each end. It also had a cubby with books all devoted to beds and sleeping.  P loved bouncing on this bed and grabbing books. 

The third room was inspired by a sculpture I saw when we entered the museum.   The room had foam tubing all connected at various places on the walls.  P could take the tubings out and reconnect them as she pleased.  


The fourth room was inspired by a Hockney painting and it was filled with mirrors to "mirror" the effect Hockney did in his painting. I know P didn't quite get it but she did find it interesting. 


Last was a spot where the kids could draw their own masks. The inspirational painting was one with lots of faces looking at you. I forgot to look up the artist bc I was too crazy following P with crayons and the three masks she was attempting to create all at one time.  

After spending about an hour in the kid's center we went outside to the garden. P saw where we were going and took off running.  She ran and ran and ran. The garden is a maze that leads to a lowered center.  As you're coming in it feels like a giant drain. P was a little drop of water making her way down. 


This was the perfect adventure: she got culture, creativity and exercise!  I couldn't have been happier and  neither was P.  As we drove out of the parking garage she said "ahmazeeeing time Mamma, ahmazeeeing time" and then fell asleep before we hit the first light.