Chef Zahzah
For Christmas, Nana got Alexander his very own little kitchen. He absolutely loves cooking, baking you name it with Mama and for the past several months he's been quite content to have a couple bowls, mixing spoons, empty spice jars and dry pasta to stir around. But after Nana made him a little 'pantry' out of a cardboard box and posterboard stove at her house, she was convinced (and rightly so) that a little kitchen would make this toddler's heart dance. With all the presents and excitement we held the 'reveal' off a bit until the winter quieted down but on a snowy evening this week, Nana came over for supper and afterwards we had a big surprise in store for Alexander.
We made him sit down with his eyes closed for a 'surprise.' He held out his hands for a present of some sort, and Papa brought it out from the other room. When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see something so big in front of him and didn't quite know what to make of it until we told him what it was and showed him all the bells and whistles. Then he was sucked in. He played with nothing else for a week.
It's still one of his favorite toys and spends a lot of time stirring, cracking the egg, cutting the little plastic fruits, and baking cakes, pancakes, smoothies etc... He's got a little basket we covered with a blanket for a table, and though David will insist that our son does not have teaparties, he does have a lot of breakfasts and birthday parties for Mama, Papa, and Tatou (and Curious George). And his imagination has just exploded. He can play 'tend' (pretend) with pretty much anything from foods of all kinds, cleaning up pretend messes, to bringing 'tend cream for bum' on the occasion that Mama didn't have any in the diaper bag. It's been a delight to watch his little development flourish over the past couple months along with his vocabulary. And Nana tells Papa not to worry often, most of the best chefs in the world are guys. Maybe he's just getting an early start. (But just for the record, he also loves to play 'diggers.')
Oh what a delight to view these pictures and have had the 'fun' to come and play tend, with Alexander as he goes through the thrill of cooking, cleaning and sharing his creations. . .imagination play is the key to developing great minds. . .his is well on the way. love to all gma, gpapa
Whoa - good thing I scrolled down a bit; missed this earlier. It is fun to "taste" his culinary creations. Like his Mama used to do, he likes to serve the "too hot" dishes at times and watch Nana react then huff and puff to cool off the food. It's fun to model the grownup skills; cooking is one of the most common in his world. After you put up the closet,David, Alex was hammering and being a carpenter. He models and will continue to model your behavior and attitudes. Maybe he'll be a preacher. Good sermon.