Pushing Buttons

This is the first night all week long that I have completed my school work before 11 pm, and what do I find myself doing? Not going to bed like I should be... but here, writing. Hhmm. After only 8 posts on this blog Nate referred to me tonight as an "addict." I'm not sure I agree with him, but it is kind of fun. This will be short, though, because I do have to make it through a Friday school day tomorrow. I think my longest night of sleep totalled 6.5 hours this week. Last night I only had time for 5 hours - ugh.

For those of you who don't know, I am not a proponent of toys for Myrick that require batteries or that have fancy flashing lights and sounds. I prefer the old-fashioned kinds of toys that require imagination and can be used in many, creative different ways - blocks, Legos, Lincoln Logs, balls, books, those sorts of things. However, Myrick seems to have her own ideas (and a strong will, too) about the kinds of things she is currently interested in playing with. Take buttons, for instance. Anything that has a button to push, like the stereo, the t.v. remote, the DVD player, her baby monitor, her humidifier, etc. (you get the picture?) absolutely enthrall her. And it's not a pretty scene when you take said item away from her. She recently discovered me using the blender up on the counter to puree some sweet potato, and now she stands below the counter, looking up at the blender pointing and plaintively saying "dis" over and over and over. So I pick her up, flip the blender switch so that it makes the fun, loud buzzing noise, and she looks at me wide-eyed, fascinated, and with a touch of fear behind her eyes. Mostly though, she is curious as to how all of these things work. She gets quite and very focused for a long time as she manipulates the buttons and makes things flash and beep (blender excluded, by the way). So much for boycotting battery-operated toys. Looks like she found them despite our best efforts!