Imagination

Tralee has a pretty good imagination for her age.

One imagination game she likes to play is "Bear, Kitty, and Doggy." That's what Jim and I named it. She watched Milo and Otis one day, and there's a scene in it where a bear is trying to get at a kitty. Shortly after Otis, the doggy, shows up and saves the day. The day after Tralee saw this for the first time, she started saying, "Bear: Rar! Rar! Kitty: Meow! Meow! Doggy: Woof! Woof!" Since then Jim and I have joined in the fun, one of us is the bear, one of us the kitty, and one of us the doggy. We act out our respective parts much to the delight of Tralee.

I've also come to the conclusion that Tralee believes her stuffed animals are real. Why do I think this? I'll give you an example. Tralee won't eat her own food until her stuffies have had a bite first. Last night I got some pretzels out for Tralee and she refused to take a bite until her kitty and her bear each had a nibble. This morning she pulled out a kitchen chair, sat her kitty on it, and then walked around to the other end of the table where she pulled a chair out for herself and sat down. I asked if she was hungry to which I recieved an "uh-huh" so I fed her a banana. Tralee wasn't satisfied until I placed part of the banana in front of kitty also. There are more examples, such has when Tralee babbles to her stuffies, does "this little piggy" to their paws, and counts to three upon which her stuffies "jump" into her arms.

It's so stinken' fun to watch Tralee play and use that little imagination of hers!