Amy’s Garden

Lydia’s Favorite Toys

1. Snuggle Bud: Snuggle Bud has been Lydia’s security item for a very long time. (For Snuggle Bud’s full history, click here.) Lately she has taken to calling it “Cubbie.” Sometimes it’s a boy and sometimes it’s girl. She often makes up a story about Snuggle Bud based on what we are doing. Today I made some bread in the breadmaker. Lydia said, “A long long time ago, when my Snuggle Bud was four years old, she used to make bread, too.” There was also a story where Snuggle Bud had a grandma who died a long long time ago, and that was when the Mickey and Minnie videos started being in color instead of black and white. (See below.)

2. Minnie Mouse: I think this Minnie Mouse toy was a gift from Nana one Halloween. Recently, Minnie Mouse has risen to the top of the favorite toy list, almost knocking down Snuggle Bud from its number one spot, but not quite. She sleeps with Snuggle Bud and Minnie Mouse. She takes them both to Walmart. When she is feeling puny, however, it’s always Snuggle Bud she asks for.

I can’t remember what got us going on Mickey and Minnie, but for some reason Keith started finding vintage Mickey and Minnie videos on YouTube. Our extensive playlist is here. She will say, “I want to watch a video with a mouse.” These videos have been watched, studied, discussed, retold, and acted out at length.

3. My silver watch with a dead battery: This watch lives in a little jewelry box by the side of my bed. Lydia will ask, “May I please go get one phing out of your jewerly box?” (She says th with an f sound.) The one thing is always the silver watch. She is supposed to keep it in my bedroom, but lately she has gotten bolder about taking it other places in the house. She will play with it, and maybe one of her necklaces, along with a book. I think she is pretending the watch is a princess who is interacting with the pictures in the book. She can entertain herself with these items for up to a full hour.

4. Small princess dolls: When Nana and Poppy went to a garage sale about two months ago, they hit the princess jackpot. One thing they bought was a set of small princess dolls with rubbery dresses and hair that can be mixed and matched. These poor princesses usually walk around with no clothes or hair. She plays with the princess dolls the same way she plays with the watch. She always has a princess doll with her during her rest time, but not necessarily bedtime. It doesn’t seem to matter to her which princess doll she has, as long as she has one. They don’t have names, which is surprising considering how much she likes to name things.

Usually a combination of these toys comes with her to go potty. This can get complicated. The toys usually rest on the step stool near her feet and she leans over to play.

Have you noticed I’ve been blogging more lately? You can give credit to the fact that Lydia has “rest time” instead of nap time now. She goes in her room for an hour, starting at 1:00. Some days she goes to sleep, but usually not. As a result, her bedtime is now 8:00 on non-nap days. I was really dreading this change, but I really really like having my evenings back.

Speaking of blogging, there is a special day coming up August 4. Anyone care to guess what it is?