Cards!

A small pack of playing cards came home with Maya back around Valentine's day, as one of the token gifts in the kids' goodie bag exchange at school. I threw away most of the other small nothings since those just tend to create lots and lots more clutter than we already have; but I ended up opening up the tiny deck just to see what these were - pairs of cute drawings to match and keep. Maya and I tried them out, and she turned out to be exceptionally good at this simple memory game.

Encouraged by her enthusiasm, I picked up Kids' Sequence game at Target a couple of weeks later. She was psyched, and we played every night before her obligatory Curious George. I've always thought I would enjoy what many families call 'family game night,' but until now, thought Maya to be too little to enjoy games with rules and instructions - clearly, I just never stopped to realize how many are tailored specifically to toddlers her age.

A couple of days ago I picked up a colorful deck of Go Fish, or, in this iteration, Go Julius, based on Paul Frank's character and its cronies. While the cards are almost too big for her little hands, Maya's on her second night of Go Julius, and with Dad's help, can hold her own well.

I'm thinking I'll get dominoes or something along the lines of Chutes and Latters or Candy Land, next... On to Monopoly domination, soon enough!

Allan says one of Jack's nursery teachers described him as 'chunky' today. I'm well pleased.

Little red hearts

In a semi-mindless state of picking up and straightening up the house tonight, I noticed one of many micro-consequences of the kids' day at home with Daddy... There were small red sticker hearts all over the house, leftover gifts from the miniature Valentine packs kids exchanged at school. Hearts on the windows. On the light switch plates. On the lamp bases. On the book dust jackets. I picked these off one by one as I found them, smiling, and only after I was done I realized I regretted doing that. I would have loved to see those again and again and again. Maya's little heart prints all over, with heart being such a reminder of all things Jack, too.

Maybe there are a couple of sticker survivors somewhere in the house crevices. I'd love to see them again.