Granny and Grandpa

(Goblin is 27 months)

 This weekend we went to see my parents, Goblin's Granny and Grandpa. Goblin likes going to see them although we don't do it often enough. Granny and Grandpa have lots of interesting things for Goblin to play with.

They have four Russian dolls that my sister and I brought back from Russia on a school trip (yes my school took us to Russia - how cool is that). I love it when Goblin plays with these dolls because its 'secret size sequencing'. What I mean is, the toy just happens to be size sequenced, but Goblin doesn't even realise, he just thinks its fun.
We had to confiscate the smallest dolls because they go down to the size of a grain of rice. But we left most of them for him to play with. He enjoys pulling them apart. He isn't able to put them together very successfully but he likes trying.

 Granny and Grandpa provide respite care for a disabled teenager, so they have lots of her toys in the house too. Goblin discovered a tub of cotton reels. He laced every single one and then ran around the room pulling the string behind him. I was really surprised because we have lacing beads at home and he isn't really interested in lacing them at all. I guess a combination of slightly bigger and therefore easier reels and a different surrounding encouraged him.

Goblin was most excited by a magnifying glass he found on "grandpa's shelf". He knew how to use it and set about inspecting all his toy cars. He also made Granny and Grandpa get bigger and smaller. 

 Granny had another exciting toy for Goblin to play with - a grabber, you know the kind with a long handle with a gripper on one end and a pincer on the other. She uses it in the garden to hook the bird feeders onto the high tree branches. Goblin was mesmerised by Granny doing this. And then he got to run around the garden with it.

 But Goblin didn't need toys to entertain him. He found Granny's hoover and set about cleaning the carpet. We have two hoovers, a roomba (robotic hoover) and a henry, and Goblin is terrified of both of them. When the Roomba goes off he whimpers and runs out of the room, and if the Henry is sitting in the hall way he won't walk past it. So I was amazed that he was happy not only that the hoover made a big noise, but he actually wanted to play with it.

Now I need to convince him that our hoover isn't scary - then he can do our housework too.