Maybe it was because we were living in a relatively urban environment, but until recently, Taylor really didn’t care much for being outside. She liked it fine, but she didn’t have any great desire to play outdoors. In fact, when we would put her on grass, she used to stand on one leg, like a flamingo, and moan. Then she would switch legs and balance on the other foot, clinging to my legs in an effort to be picked up. A few weeks ago, however, everything changed. My dad took her into the backyard and she went through the flamingo routine for awhile, so he brought her up to the deck. Suddenly she decided to traipse right down the stairs to the lawn and off she went! Now she’s totally hooked on being outside, traversing the lawn and climbing on the park bench. Before we couldn’t get her to go outside, now we can’t get her to come inside…how times have changed!
Another thing that T.J.’s totally hooked on is the camera. I made the mistake of showing her pictures on the digital camera and now she just wants to look at the pictures instead of being the subject. It’s impossible to take a picture of her anymore because as soon as she sees the camera, she comes running with her arm outstretched to view the display screen. Then she’ll plop herself down on my lap and sit while I scroll through every picture on the camera, one by one. It doesn’t matter that she’s seen them several dozen times already…she still wants to see them again! There is a video clip on the camera in which I asked her what each of the animals says and she made the appropriate sound for each animal. She’s seen that video so many times that she starts making the monkey sound BEFORE she sees that part in the video.