Baby Toys

Cousin Owen is here for a visit and the Rowe girls are loving it!  He is entranced by his cousins and can't help from breaking into a smile or a giggle upon seeing their faces.  I guess it's because the girls are truly still babies at heart.  In preparation for Owen's upcoming visit, I suggested we wash all our old Little People paraphernalia, so Owen can play with them.  These toys have been sitting in our basement for the past few years, untouched.  Auntie Shannon took to the task of cleaning, and the kids decided to help her out.  Of course, once the toys were clean for a baby, my 11.5 and 8.5 year old re-discovered their love of all things Little People:

ME: Okay, girls, should we go to the pool?
JULIA: Uh, not right now, we're playing.

Good thing we washed these things for Owen.

Madeleine also decided she wanted to take a trip down memory lane and try hanging out in the pack 'n play:

The girls are finding baby life all kinds of fascinating.  Today we took Owen to the Children's Section of the town library, and I remarked nostalgically that the girls and I used to go there all the time, but they've outgrown it at this point.  Quick to prove me wrong, Madeleine got engaged in putting on a puppet show for an audience of zero, while Julia happily moved beads around on a baby bead maze:

After awhile, Madeleine wanted to go look at the library's antique dollhouse.  Julia had moved onto the BRIO train and was fully engaged in building tracks.

MADELEINE: Mommy?  Can we go look at the dollhouse?
ME: Uh, sure, you can go.
MADELEINE: But can you come with me?
ME: I can't right now, honey.  I'm watching Owen.
MADELEINE: But I don't want to go by myself.
ME: Okay, let's ask Julia.  Hey Julia, can you go with Madeleine to see the dollhouse?
JULIA: Um, not right now.  First I have to finish my train tracks.


I guess I should be giving these kids baby toys more often.  Apparently after a many years'-long break, the girls find these toys are just way more exciting than any of their own age-appropriate gadgets.