Kerri has finally found her "thing"! While Emma Lee could literally spend hours upon hours happily coloring or reading (today she even took her book outside with her to the swing - be still my heart!!), Kerri enjoys both of these activities but on a limited basis. Up until recently there wasn't much that could hold her attention for a long span of time.
On a side note here - I love playing with the girls, and I love that they play so well together (most of the time), but I also think that an important part of their development is to be able to intently focus on and enjoy a "task" all on their own. Barbara Curtis addresses this issue in her book The Mommy Manual. She talks about when a child finds something that they focus intently on for long periods of time it means "they're building up their ability to concentrate, and that means they'll be better focused, more enthusiastic learners." She also remarks, "If a child is concentrating, [you] can be sure something is being built into him that will help him in the future, though it may be simply the ability to focus and concentrate." Although the child's object of concentration is "...spontaneous and surprising [and] it is not something you can make happen but is something you stumble upon," our job as parents is to "help our children develop concentration by removing distractions and encouraging its growth into a strong and vital current." Anyway, moving on! :)
Kerri's focused fascination is puzzles (coincidentally, this is another one of my loves, and maybe not so coincidentally, it is something that Emma Lee does not really enjoy that much). Kerri puts together puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. She sometimes even chooses to do the same puzzle over and over again. She loves it, and I love that she loves it (even if she won't let me help!). Our largest puzzle we have is 63 pieces, and it doesn't even faze her. I see some shopping for more advanced puzzles in our near future! Here's a little sample of her in action. (Notice another one of her loves - making up random songs and weird noises - she gets that from her daddy!)
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