Making arrangements

Yesterday I walked into the family room and happened to glance out into the adjacent sun room.

Dagny has been here, I thought. And indeed she had, on Saturday afternoon.

Upon entering the house jabbering -- Dagny is always talking or singing; try to stop her -- Dagny makes a beeline for Rizzo. And me. Mainly because where you find Rizzo, you usually find me.

Sighting Rizzo for the first time, she bursts into a belly laugh. Rizzo's mere existence makes Dagny overflow with mirth. 

Hi Rizzo! Hi Rizzo! Hi Rizzo! She chortles, over and over again as though he's deaf.

Hi Dag, I say.

Hey Mamaw, she adds.

In due time Dagny is encouraged to let Rizzo be alone with his chew toys, and proceed to the sun room where her own toys reside, divided between a wire basket and a Lego bucket.

She splits her time between dumping the Legos out onto the family room floor and building a tower or a house, and staying in the sun room where she plays vigorously with the stuffed animals, a few bouncing balls, a canister of buttons (do not open it!) and an old wireless phone.

Among her favorites in the stuffed critter category are her yellow teddybear (it comes out Lello Teyberr!), two keyrings with tiny puppies attached, a small stuffed Dalmatian, a diminutive bear wearing a Nummer One! teeshirt, and two Chihuahuas left over from the late-'90s Yo Quiero Taco Bell ad campaign.

The Chihuahuas still talk: The one with the rose in its mouth says I Think I'm In Love and the other one repeats Drop The Chalupa as many times as you care to squeeze its chest.

And yes; we bought these soft-taco dog dolls around 1998. Around the same time we got Javier. And yes; the acquisitions were connected.

I stood there laughing at the way Dagny had left her ammals when she took her leave on Saturday. Sometimes I find them lined up on the bench; this time they were grouped on the floor, with Lello Teyberr propped on the bench leg.

The keyring puppies are situated cheek-by-jowl, as are the Chihuahuas -- one standing, the other in an eternal sitting position. Nummer One bear is perched in Lello Teyberr's garish furry lap. Small Dalmatian takes up little space at the rear of the arrangement.

The plastic eyes stare without sight but somehow still manage to convey a message of life and the sort of cuteness that entrances children.

I wondered where kids get the idea to arrange objects the way they do. What does it say about their personalities? What induces them to organize and compartmentalize and form cozy tableaux?

Still musing, I went upstairs to make coffee. And noticed my own dining table.

I know the real meaning of Easter. But I also love bunnies and have a small collection. I bring them out in late March, where they stay, decorating various surfaces, until I go all patriotic for summer.

My bunnies' eyes are sightless but they delight me with the whimsy and sweetness they convey.

I guess that's your answer, I thought.

Hey. Little eyes (the kind that really see) are watching. I may be wrong, but I think they get most of their ideas from us -- those among whom they live and learn. Those from whom they're bound to take many cues.

I think that's very cool. I believe I'm up to it. Are you?

And that is all for now.

=0=0=0=

Happy Monday

Comments

[sally]

Hi! So good to see you, Jenny, although it looks like I may have missed one of your posts. I hope you know I've been thinking about you!

Yes, little Dagny! She's such a joy, and I do believe the little's pay more attention to us than we know and in happenstance we come to see it. :)

The little bunnies? This reminds me when my daughter was little she was given a live bunny; she put it in her Easter basket and don't you know it ran away first opportunity. Poor thing; the bunny not the daughter. I think it should have been a stuffed one instead!

Take care of you!
xoxo

[Jennifer]

@ Sally ... Oh, poor thing! The bunny, not the daughter. It should definitely have been a stuffed one. xoxo

[Mari]

I love those reminders that a little one has been here. It usually brings a smile to our face too.. You are right - those little eyes are watching!

[Judy]

They are always watching us, aren't they?

[Barb]

Children are like little sponges - they soak up their surroundings. (Sometimes, that idea scares me.) My own grands often leave me with lego masterpieces which I promise to keep displayed on the table in the family room until they visit again. I have some toys from my own children which now have been handled and enjoyed by my grandchildren. I recently put many of them away in a labeled box so maybe someday my great grands can enjoy them too even if I'm gone. I owe you an e-mail, Jenny - Bob is traveling to FL this weekend so I'll have some time to get caught up.

[Luna Crone]

It's pretty scary stuff, isn't it? When we think how the little ones, are always watching.... Or even when they aren't actually watching, they are hearing and absorbing what happens around them. Actually, all parents, grandparents, baby sitters, extended family, etc., ought to have this, in a big poster, somewhere where they will often see it.

And your photos! Oh wow! What more is there to say?

Love your table, with the photos, under glass! Love it!

And from you last entry.... Love how your new lens, enables bokeh, in photos. And I love, love, love the bokeh effect!!! Not having a special lens, I only accomplish it, by random. And not often. But when I do, I am soooooooo dern-pleased-with-myself. :-)))

Happy spring hugs,
Luna Crone

[Jennifer]

@Barb ... the toys Dagny plays with here are all ones my children collected. It makes us happy to see her enjoying them. I can just imagine your Lego table masterpieces! xoxo

@Luna ... Bokeh is truly a thing to be treasured. I am so grateful that I've been able to collect some nice camera equipment -- mostly gifts from my family. My "time table" as I call it, has evolved over the years. It's an eight-foot trestle table and the entire surface is covered with family photos, 98% of which I myself took. It's a pain to move the glass but I need to update it! xoxo

[Donna (Texas)]

Well, I love to watch them play. So precise, just so-so. The hugs and laughter.
I miss it terribly.
Enjoy it dear friend...it's over before you know it and all you have left are the sounds in your head.
Our William is will be 18 this July...Sami is 22...
Greatgranbabies? Shoot, we'll be too dang old to hold 'em!Hahaa
hughugs