Jenna...today

Last night as I watched Jenna pretend to be a baby hippo in the tub, then a dog after bath, and finally ending as a cat before we read books, I thought back to Alex at this age. I asked Joe if he remembered Alex getting so into "character" when pretend playing. Did he pretend to be animals to this extent, I asked. Joe couldn't remember either. And it's sad because it was only two years ago!! So, I wanted to capture these memories. I wanted to record Jenna as she is now. At one month shy of turning three, Jenna has a wonderful imagination! She has characters that she latches onto and plays through each one. And while I am thrilled to have a little girl, a girly girl she is not. Jenna's first character that she took to was a little boy in an oh-so-cheesy Casper movie named Chris. In the movie Chris is Casper's "best bud". So, when we play this, Jenna is Chris, I am Casper and Joe is "Chris' dad". After watching Little Mermaid, Jenna didn't want to be Ariel. No, she pretends she is Eric and our cat, C.C., is Eric's dog. When Jenna is Han Solo, I am Princess Leah - a role I have been playing since my own childhood playing Star Wars with my brother. And then, there are the animals. Jenna loves pretending she is Pluto the dog from Mickey Mouse. And her Thomas the Tank Engine tent is her dog house. Our cat, C.C., is one of Jenna's favorite playmates, so she often pretends she is a cat, walking along on all fours and trying to eat her food straight from her plate. She is also a wonderful baby hippo and as her mommy hippo, I have to get her back into her cage (her bed) at night. I love her creative play. I love seeing her world and being invited into it to play. Of course, anyone who really knows Jenna knows that her all time favorite thing to play is her "truckes" also known as Hot Wheel or Match Box cars. She can play endlessly with her truckes. She plays with them on her bed, on our bed, on her train tracks, on her garage, in her doll houses, she is never at a loss with her truckes. And that is just a glimpse of my sweet baby girl today.