Overcoming "Little People-Phobia"!

Hello everyone,

Thanks so much for coming back to visit our blog. Life in the Potocnik family is never dull, and boy does time fly quickly (especially when you take the month off work!). It's hard to believe we have been home two weeks, but it's amazing how fast we've fallen back into a good routine. This is comforting to me in some ways---I prefer a little bit of a schedule and some sort of order to my days. Leila seems to thrive on routine as well and if things are outside the normal routine...watch out. At night, we've started a bedtime routine of reading a couple books on her bed and then tucking her in with hugs and kisses. Sounds easy enough, except that according to my two year old, this must be done in the exact order that I did it the very first night. For example, we must go pick out the book together off the shelf, then sit on the bed with her on my lap and the pink blanket over both of us. Then I am to read the books to her, then lay her down on her pillow. She then says "How 'bout that?" and I cover her with the purple blanket. Again, "how 'bout that?" and I cover her with the pink one. Finally, I am to sit next to her bed, hold her hand for a couple minutes, then ask for hugs and kisses. I am then allowed to leave the room only after closing the door part way, assuring her that "Maddie is comin'" and standing outside her door reminding her that "Mama's right here." Wow. Even typing that makes me tired! Really, I'm not complaining. It is very obvious that Leila is trying to make sense of her world and organize the different routines in a way she can understand. She loves predictability and I can appreciate that. In fact, I find it quite encouraging that she thrives on order and organization...I can't WAIT to buy her her first labelmaker!

Regarding the title of today's blog...as soon as we got home, we quickly learned that Leila is afraid of any toy that has a face. This may explain why the baby doll or ladybug blanket we showed her at the orphanage did not calm her immediately. She currently is not a fan of baby dolls, stuffed animals, barbies, or, (sigh), Fisher Price Little People. My other three haven't played with the Little People barn, fire station, house, etc. for a couple of years, but I have been saving them for Leila, just knowing she would love them as much as I do. In fact in China, I was convinced that they would be just the toy to appeal to her love of holding small objects in her hands, but I was wrong. Next time you're out shopping, I would challenge you to look in the toy aisle and try to find a toy without a face. It's no easy task. Anyway, we did finally have a breakthrough yesterday when Leila figure out that she could put the Little People into the ferris wheel and it would play music. I was pretty excited to get to play with one of my favorite toys, if even for just a few minutes. Madison has tried to convince Leila to play Barbies and Polly Pockets with her and while Leila was pleased to organize all the accessories to these toys, she really didn't want to have the actual dolls in hand. Oh well---in time I'm sure she'll be getting into every toy that Maddie wishes she was still afraid of!

What does she like to play with? Anything that involves small motor skills, such as Tinkertoys, Legos, blocks, stacking cups, beads, and cars. Provided none of the above have a face. Last week I decided to let her work with beads while I baked a cake (not sure if my business will hold up with my two year old assistant, but we'll see). She was so intent---stringing every single bead I own on pipe cleaners. I bet she sat there for 2 hours---she didn't want to stop! So---I'm on a mission to figure out other toys that she'll love that involve fine motor/detail skills...let me know if you have any suggestions!




When she's not beading, Leila is thrilled to be outside playing, swinging, blowing bubbles...anything that involves being outside. She also had her first "movie night" with the kids and Madison's friend Roni. The movie was Alvin and the Chipmunks but who cares when you have 5 big bowls of popcorn and 4 big kids to entertain!



Have a great week---I know we will!

Love,
Alissa