The Games They Play

In December, we witnessed the development of the game "Hold Hands", which consisted of all three Salvateenies grabbing hands in the living room, running past me in the hall and calling out, "Cheese!" for the camera, and then proceeding into the dining room to fall down in a clump.  Then repeating.

The funny thing is how this pattern repeats itself.  Somehow, without talking about it, the three of them develop new games every day, with very strict rules and definite recurring themes.  It shouldn't surprise me - I remember visiting my friend's kids when they were little and inventing the game "shark" in which I would lie in one of their beds and pretend it was a boat and they would circle on the carpet and attack me from below.  For literally YEARS, I had to play "shark" every time I visited.

So what are some of the Salvateenies' favorite games at age 2? 

Monkey: This involves me raising one of the kids up to the molding on the entryway to the living room so they can catch their fingers on it and swing like a monkey. Interestingly, only Caroline actually hangs on and swings, the boys dissolve into giggles just when I lift them up above my head, which is good since they are heavy enough I might not be able to grab hold of them enough to keep them from falling.

Turn Off: This involves me picking them up to whatever light switch is closest and cheering them on to turn the light on and off. Most frequently, it is played in the dining room, which has a push button that they prefer to switches.

Both of these games lead to a good round of "My Turn", which I trust is self explanatory.

Hold Hand Slide?: This is one of Caroline's favorites, but Max will play as well. Daniel is not as much of a fan. They climb up their slide to the top, then wait for me (or Daddy or Uncle) to hold their hand so they can run down the slide, or jump off the slide, or run part-way down the slide before they jump off. They haven't played this one in a while and I'm knocking on wood that I haven't reminded them of it by including it here. They can't read yet, right?

And sometimes they'll play a variation together that doesn't include an adult having to get involved.

Box/Blanket Car:  In this gem, they take a blanket from the couch or empty one of the toy boxes so that they can turn the item into a new mode of transportation, propelled by whatever adult they can con into pulling or pushing them.  The toy containers only hold one child, and Max is usually the one who will opt for this.  With a blanket all three can travel at once, though they often fall off as you turn corners.

Bear:  This is a truly excellent game in which the kids all crawl around growling.  Ever since they watched the Gruffalo movie, there are variations of this that are called "Gruffalo" and "Mouse", but they all involve crawling and growling.  But beware of playing along to this game, as it can lead to...

Horsie:  One of the major drawbacks to having children later in life is that you (and assorted aunts, uncles, and grandparents) are considerably less able to play horsie for hours.  And yet the children don't seem to understand that you'd rather be put out to pasture.  I've found that the game ends quickly when an overexuberant child slips over your shoulder and lands on her head (thank goodness for padded carpet!) but I wouldn't recommend it.

Daddy Play Catch / Daddy Tea!: For some reason, the children are not keen on inviting me to their tea parties, but Daddy makes many a command performance at their little table.  They are nice enough to serve him coffee, but he must promise to sit in their chairs and chat for a while.  Similarly, they are far more likely to ask Daddy to play catch, even though I will play with them too.  But don't think I get left out, because there's always...

Mommy Sit Down / Nap Time:  This one developed on a night when I'd been at work late and got home about an hour before the bedtime routine begins.  When I walked in the door, everyone ran over to greet me and then dragged me by hand into the dining room.  There, Max pointed to the floor and demanded, "Mommy, Sit Down!"  I sat, even though this command is often used on Daddy and really means "get up and follow me into the other room".  This time, he really did want me to sit down.  While I was getting comfortable, the three of them quickly exchanged glances and that was it - the game was set.  Within seconds, they were rushing me, hugging me, and knocking me over on my back, only to pop up, grab my hands, and "pull" me back up to sitting.  By the second or third time, they'd added a step and after knocking me down they all rolled off of me and onto the floor.  Daniel would then yell, "Nap Time!" and all three would pinch their eyes shut and quickly snore-sigh-snore-sigh-snore-sigh until it was time to get back up, pull me up, and start over.  

There are SOME games that don't involve grown ups.

Say Goodbye:  They LOVE escorting our visitors to the door, slamming the front door behind them (sometimes before they're entirely out - oops!), and then racing to the couch to look out the front window and watch as they walk out to their cars.  Here I caught the tail end of Caroline yelling out to Uncle and Wendy and blowing them kisses as they left:

"Hugs":  This started as Daniel's game, but now everyone can start it.  You start by walking up to your sibling sweetly and holding out your arms for a hug.  When the embrace is accepted, flash your most devious grin and slowly bend your knees and start shifting your center of gravity until you and your target tumble to the ground.

Gymnastics:  In addition to general jumping and bouncing, Max has been doing forward rolls for a while, and Caroline just recently learned to make it all the way over.  Daniel is just about to make it.  

Dancing:  Whether it's spinning or stomping or jumping up and down, it all gets called "dancing".  And quite often it ends with a flourish and a "tadaa", or perhaps even a quick bow and a rushed "thank you very much".  (Please ignore Mommy's wardrobe in the video below...)

And Caroline does a solo:

Super Hero Pose:  The boys have become ADDICTED with the children's TV show "Lazy Town", which they see on Sprout's "Super Sproutlet Show".  At one point during the show, the resident superhero teaches the "sproutlets" how to do an exercise they can practice at home.  His signature move is the "super hero pose", which consists of curling one bicep ("muscle"), then the other ("muscle"), raising both hands over your head ("up"), clapping your hands in front of your chest ("clap"), then running in place, jumping from side to side, and then placing your hands on your hips with your feet apart ("super hero pose").  Out of nowhere, Max will turn to one of us, curl his little arm up and yell, "Muscle!", so I was excited to get this video of all of them playing along together:

Hybrid Dancing/Bear:  There is a variation to "Bear" called "Lion" that follows the same basic principle with one important difference - accessories!  Caroline re-discovered a pink daisy headband we got her for Easter two years ago:

For some reason, she doesn't recognize it as a flower anymore, and when she puts it on her head she thinks she looks like a lion - and her lion growl is a little different from her bear growl.  

After a few days of "lion", she realized she could put the headband around her waist to wear as a sort of tutu apron, which definitely enhances the dancing.

Baby tries on the headband tutu

Baby models the lion mane

And once she'd determined that headbands could be worn as play accessories, she finally broke into the multi-colored set she'd been given by her Great Aunt for her birthday.  In the past few months, the kids have become much more aware of their color coding, and whenever Caroline sees anything blue, whether it be a water bottle or shirt or hair tie, she proclaims that it's "Daniel's ..."  Likewise, anything green is Max's.  So it's no wonder she talked Max into wearing a sparkly green headband as a belt.  But with the fuchsia one on his forehead, Max really did look like he was taking a brief rest from a new wave dance party.

  

All this in addition to their blocks and cars and balls and trains and dolls and puzzles and musical instruments and Misters Potato Head and stuffed animals and drawing materials and books and tv shows and ...