Winter Recreation !

Here it is, Elaina's favorite pastime, when she's not reading books or watching "Noggie" on tv or on the computer. A slide of her very own ! The girl is all about the slide !

I happened upon this great find at my favorite resale shop on my lunch hour. I was actually searching for some new books to get us through until Christmas. I inquired about the slide on the shelf wondering how frequently they get them in. The saleswoman informed me that it is rare to get that particular size and they just received that one yesterday. At that point, I was running out of time and didn't want to rush into making any quick decisions. Interestingly enough, I just happened to be pricing the same slides online and on ebay this same morning. The store was asking a fair price and I really wanted Elaina to have one. I called back to the store on my way back to work and asked them to hold it for me and I would be back to pick it up after work. Why didn't I just do that from the beginning ?

When I arrived home, I brought Elaina her new books and she couldn't seem to get them out of the bag fast enough. She scanned through each book and loved that there were so many new ones to choose from. A few minutes later, I carried in her giganto-slide and she could barely believe what was coming into her house. I set it in the middle of the kitchen floor where and she immediately began to climb and slide. I think I made the right decision to make a second trip back to the store.

She played on her new slide for the better part of a half hour and moved back to her books. Elaina made it pretty clear how much she likes to slide when she was taking her bath a few nights ago and she backed her rear into the back wall of the tub and let her tushie try to slide down the wall as she slid her feet from under her. A little risky for bathtub play, but she was aiming for the effect of sliding no matter. Speaking of the bathtub, Little Weirdo ( I use that affectionately ) has decided that she loves taking a bath. In fact, she is trying to climb into the tub with her clothes on without being asked. Yesterday, she was in such a hurry to get in, that she helped me take her shirt off and she threw it into the tub filling with water. She loves to play, splash, read bathtub books and move around. This is a far cry from the bath-seat-dependent-child I dealt with only a month ago. She's come a long way.

So, about this slide ... Elaina loves it and has already mastered climbing the steps, transitioning into feet first position and sliding down onto her feet. Looks like my internet search has come to an end and Elaina won't be forced to scoot down the bathtub wall from now on.