I is for Imagination

Now that Violet is talking, the things that go on in her imagination are becoming more apparent to me, and it's so exciting getting this window into her creativity.

We got Violet this great little play stove at the Salvation Army.  It's so adorable, and even better now that daddy added a "sink" to it.  He cut a hole and inserted a metal bowl then added a faucent attachment so it looks like a sink.  Super cute, and knobs to turn.  She already had some play pots and pans, plus we got some plastic bowls while we were at the SA anyway, and she has her tea set.  All "cooking" toys now live within Violet's kitchedn, and she likes to play with it.

The great thing about this toy, for me, is listening to what she "makes."  Sometimes she makes what I'm making.  So I make her toast and give it to her, and she takes it over to her kitchen and "cooks" the toast and breaks it into pieces to put in her bowls and serve.  Other times she just cooks on her own though.  The other day she was cooking and bringing me plates.  I asked her what it was.
"Butter."
"Mmm...  Butter?  Is the butter on anything?"
"Tofu."
"Butter and tofu, okay, that sounds good."
Then she brought me a cup and said it was soup.
"Butter and tofu soup?"

She also plays with her baby dolls, and mimics things I do with her little brother, but also does her own things.  Last night my husband went in to check on her after bedtime when we heard noises.  She has recently learned to turn her light on and was playing by herself very contently in her lit up bedroom.  She had one baby doll sitting on the potty, and she was "feeding" another from her straw sippy cup of water before laying it down on an unfolded changing mat.

And finally, the cutest conversation as of late.  I had never talked to her before about what she wants to be when she grows up or what that even means.  I decided to give it a try without explanation and see how it went.
"Violet, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Ummm... grow up...  AIRPLANES!"
"You want to fly airplanes when you grow up?"
"YES!"
I thought that was so cute that I called for my husband and asked her agian.
"Violet, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Ummm... grow up... MOMMY."
"You can be a mommy when you grow up."
"Yeah.  Mommy."

What a fun and exciting age 2 is!  I'm really loving this stage.