Play is Work (for toddlers)

I read many books, magazines, and articles about raising the babies, and one point made frequently is the importance of play. Not just the structure of reading books and learning games, but also *free* play - the more activity, the better! The playground is tons of fun, because Kate gets to explore and test her balancing and climbing skills. She also has choices about what she wants to do, and executing those choices gives her confidence, I think, in herself. Not that our darling is lacking in confidence. Today we went to the reading/play group at the Plaza library called "Baby Bounce." This is an activity we've been doing sporadically since Kate was about 6 months old. She enjoys being around the other children, I think, and seems to like listening to the librarian read books. Even in that structured environment, I try to allow her freedom to move and explore. Of course, this means that I am the only one whose child goes up to the librarian and takes the big bear sitting next to her for "baby yoga." After sitting for about ten minutes, Kate reaches some kind of comfort level, and walks up to the front of the room while the librarian is reading and takes her bear! This is a huge teddy bear, easily almost as tall as Kate herself, so she is half carrying-half dragging this bear through all the moms and babies sitting so nicely listening bringing it to me in the back of the room. I smile and ask her to please give the bear back to the librarian, which she just started doing recently... half carrying/half dragging the darn bear back through the moms and babies, and today put it back in its chair next to the librarian! It's embarrassing, but I love that she's confident in that way! Kate also has no qualms about taking toys from other kids... hmmm... not so nice... but, would we rather she was the one having toys taken from her? I'm sure there's another perspective to be had here! Anyway, Lilly is starting to enjoy "Baby Bounce" more as she is more active and can play with the different toys. She also enjoys seeing all the other babies, I think, many of whom are her age. We always get a nice welcome from the moms who have been there as long as us. It's a fun day at the library.