Playtime

I was recently ask what the greatest gift I have ever received, hands down one of the greatest gifts Andrew has ever given me is the freedom to be at home with Hannah and Ethan.   I count it a privilege to be able to put in the time and effort at home that I do.  Being at home, I love watching Hannah and Ethan play.  Despite the number of photos to contrary we do NOT spend most of the day at the kitchen table.  Hannah and Ethan play very well together. In the words of  Bob Keeshan: "Play is the work of children. It's very serious stuff."  Well here is a look at the serious play of Hannah and Ethan. During this chunk of time I was busy doing stuff in the kitchen and I did not direct or interfere in their play at all.  

First up was baseball (instigated by Ethan and a portion of a tool-belt he decided was a base ball glove).  Hannah decided it looked like fun and joined him after watching him for a few minutes. You'll notice in the picture that they are wearing their shoes (no we don't normally where shoes in the house), this is because they "went" to a baseball game and therefore needed their shoes to get there.  Hannah likes to make their games as accurate as possible.

After their baseball game, Ethan was banging on something in the other room and since I was in the kitchen I don't really know and I did NOT check.  Hannah decided to play with the toys on the shelf.  I don't really know how to classify or describe what she was doing but it is a favorite activity of hers.  She precisely and thoughtfully arranges stuff.  She did this for a very long time.  

What you can't see is that behind the garbage can and under her jacket she has dumped out all our letters.

 Once everything was suitable arranged, she moved on to the firetruck toy. 

 Ethan surfaced at this point and wanted to also play with the firetruck.

Hannah who does not shy away from being bossy did not share. 

You can probably tell from Hannah's face (in the picture below) that she is telling Ethan what he can and cannot do.  In this instance, that the truck needed to stay on the chair and not be touched.  I thought things might get heated at this point.  Ethan doesn't like being told that he can't touch something. Hannah talked him into playing with magnets instead.

They moved to the table and played with their three bears magnets for awhile.

 Eventually, it was time to clean up for lunch and I expected some resistance (to cleaning up not lunch).  But thankfully they were helpful.

Cleaning up the hidden letters.

 

Throughout the course of the morning Hannah did in fact completely empty the shelves.

Back to rights.