Imagine this...

One of my favorite things about Jack right now is how much his imagination is at work. He loves to play and is on the go from the moment he wakes up (at 6:30, as of late) until he goes to bed (8, if we're lucky), with the exception of his much-needed 2 hour nap.

I'm a SAHM who can't stand to just stay-at-home very often, so Jack, Will and I tend to pack our schedules with a few activities each week. One of our favorites is toddler time at the library. We've been going almost every week since Jack was 10 months old, so I don't know that he can remember a time when we didn't go to the library.

While I think he likes his time there, I never really thought it was having a big influence on him. Jenna is in our class, so I thought that was probably the highlight. A few weeks ago, I realized how much he really must love our story time and how much he really pays attention. We now "play library" at least once a day. Sometimes he'll just have me sit on the floor while he reads me books before his nap (today he even had a bear like "Dewey" sitting next to him, just like the librarian), but usually it's a whole reenactment of our 20 minute session. We sing songs, he "blows bubbles" (runs around with a ball, pretending he's blowing bubbles), read stories, he pretends he has a CD player & "finds" music. It's really like we're there.

Jack's other favorite thing is his kitchen. He makes us meals all the time, loves to measure, wears his apron, uses oven mitts & even sets the timer. Nick and I were saying last night that his kitchen totally wins the award for "most used" toy. He gets lots of practice, wanting to help me out EVERY time I'm in the kitchen...

I just love seeing his little brain work and transfer all of his experiences into play. I just wish that I had as much energy as he does most of the time!