Hidey Holes

It never ceases to amaze me how different kids can be--and our two kids do a pretty good job of covering most of the developmental options that are available. They are about as close to being polar opposites as one could imagine.

In some ways, Norah seems to be catching up to Gabe rather quickly--probably because she has no problem sitting still and focusing on a single project for longer than the forty-five seconds Gabe will usually give something before getting bored and moving on to the next shiny thing. A few times in the past weeks we've set Norah down with crayons or markers and she's shown an interest in putting pen to paper that Gabe still hasn't really shown (he likes playing with his art supplies, but I think mostly he just likes getting all of the stuff out, appraising the inherent value of supplies, and then he decides that the potential of the colors could never live up to the reality of his abilities and focuses his interest elsewhere--just kidding, I'm sure it's nothing so abstract as that, really I think he just likes to take all the stuff out because he knows that, inevitably, one of us will have to clean it up and he likes to make us do stuff like that).

Norah coloring. Admittedly, Libby did most of the work, but Norah sat on her lap for nearly a half hour last night working with the crayons (while Gabe at mashed potatoes).

In contrast, here is a picture of Gabe from Saturday (that's spaghetti on his face) wearing a paper hat Libby made. He lost interest in the hat less than five seconds after we took the picture (meaning it held his interest for nearly thirty seconds, all told).

Norah has also shown a rather advanced concept of "my space." It has only been in the past six months that Gabe has started to appreciate the idea of having his own room, or having special places that he can go to do his own thing. But Norah, from the time she could crawl, has had her little spot behind the chair that she goes to regularly to sit and ponder her navel.

But now they have a joint "special place" that they've spent a goodly amount of time sharing over the past week. And, amazingly enough, they both seem to enjoy going in there TOGETHER. Gabe even asks if he and Norah can go back there and play together--and Norah, for her part, can spend a half hour back there with Gabe letting him entertain her with his antics. Really, Gabe is great at playing with Norah. Well, maybe that's not entirely right. He's great at entertaining her, as long as she is entertaining him at the same time. He's not really grasping the "we have to be careful of how we play because Norah isn't very coordinated" notion, so when she can't wrestle or jump around or do the other physical stuff that he wants to do, he loses interest pretty quickly (but he DOES still give playing with her a go before giving up, so I have to give him credit for that).

The relative safety of their "nest" behind the couch, though, changes that landscape somewhat. Since there are two feather comforters, three miscellaneous blankets and sleeping bags, four pillows, and however many stuffed friends Gabe was able to throw down from his room, this is about the safest place the two of them could play together without having an actual padded room.

Norah doing her Kilroy impersonation from behind the couch.

Granted, I have to keep a pretty close ear on them (I can't keep a close eye because, as soon as I put Norah down back there, Gabe says, "Shoo away, Daddy," and won't play until I retreat at least to the other side of the room) for fear of her getting trapped in a feather comforter or in case Gabe gets a little too rambunctious and a head gets bonked on the wall, but it's still something that fills the time rather nicely during a long morning.

Mostly, I think Gabe just drops pillows on the pair of them and they laugh, but sometimes, as you'll see in the video, they play the Sitting Down game. Norah stands up next to Gabe then drops her full weight down on him. He thinks it's a hoot. Except yesterday, when he didn't pay attention to where she was going to sit and she smashed down on his head two or three times. He started yelling for her to stop, but she wouldn't until I got over there to pick her up and move her a foot or so to the other side.

As usual, the action wasn't quite up to par when the camera got involved as Gabe especially became more concerned with it than with going about his business. He did, however, illustrate his eagerness for Norah to squash him (and she eventually obliged, after he pulled her down on top of him a few times).