Observations on my two children, at the library.
Laurel at the library. Age two.
As per usual, Laurel went immediately to the juvenile fiction stacks and grabbed four paperbacks. Mostly about teenage angst and pimples and mystery-solving canines and such.
She walked by me, looked my way, and said quite clearly, “Mommy, I gotta read my BOOKS!” She then walked over to the kid area, her books clutched to her chest. She sat down, putting the books one one side, neatly arranged. She then chose one of the books, opened it to the half-way point, stuck her entire face in the book, said “the end”, and put the book down on her other side, saying “Oh, that’s a good book.” She did this with all four books, methodically.
If anyone comes near her, she screams and clutches her books to her chest, saying usually something like “No. Go away. I can’t like that. Don’t want to play.”
At some point, Laurel will make her way over to the computers, where they keep neat little stacks of scrap paper and pencils. She will draw some pictures, and then walk them over to the copier machine and either put them in the paper tray or under the cover. She will then come get me and ask for money so she can make a copy.
Kelsey at the library. Age 3.85 (or so)
As per usual, Kelsey found a willing victim–a sweet grandmother who was trying to read to her grandchild. She sat very close. Listened well to the story and got very involved, asking questions. She then struck up a conversation with the grandmother, while the grandchild got bored and wandered off. Grandmother smiled at Kelsey affectionately, and got up to get grandchild. Kelsey got up to find another friend/victim.
When she exhausts the number of potential friends in the room, she plays hide and seek under the desks with Laurel or plays with puzzles.
Finally, she will notice the computers and ask me to log her in so she can play a game on pbs.org. She’s getting quite good at manipulating the mouse.