Sunday morning was a busy one for the Forseter trio. After breakfast, Finley and I headed off to the supermarket while Dan drove just about an hour south to the town of Norfolk, MA. Why, you ask? To pick up a very special craigslist purchase that I lined up for Finley. We got home and unpacked the groceries and soon enough, Dan called to say he was almost home and we should meet him in the garage. We raced down and opened the trunk, Finley nearly jumped out of my arms!
If you couldn't tell, inside our trunk was a beautiful fully equipped kitchen! Unfortunately for Finley, it was nearly nap time so we trudged back upstairs for a snooze. While Finley slept, we carried the kitchen around back and through the back door into the playroom. A perfect fit!
This thing is awesome! There's a sink, fridge, microwave, stovetop, dishwasher, oven, phone, cabinet, and even a working ice cube dispenser! It's a Little Tikes Country Kitchen that is no longer made and apparently, hard to find in good condition. Hooray for my craigslist scavenger hunt!
While I wanted Finley to have a nice, long nap--I was eager for him to see this new addition to his playroom. After two hours or so, he was up and ready for his surprise. We carried him into the playroom, still a bit groggy, for the big reveal and it was an instant hit. He recognized what was in front of him right away and got down to business immediately.
Can you see the smile on his face as he rushes towards it in the photo above?
He has to get up on his tippy-toes to put things into the microwave, it's adorable!
I loaded up the fridge with some nice wooden foods I'd purchased a month ago or so (in hopes of a kitchen coming to us) and Finley had fun exploring everything.
And yes, there's a working ice cube dispenser! How funny! After watching me a couple of times, he learned how to put the cubes in and then close to the door and slide the lever over so the cubes land in the cup.
I see many hours of fun in the months and years to come with this new piece of toddler equipment.
We've been playing with kitchen stuff for a while (our nice pots and lids, our bamboo spoons, our measuring cups, etc.) and I'm hoping he'll find it more fun to play with things in his kitchen now. He tried to put one of our big, heavy skillets onto his stovetop without much success (after loudly dragging it across our tiled kitchen floor), but I suspect he'll try again soon.
One of the neat things is that he's making sound effects while he works in his kitchen just as I have modeled for him over the past couple of months. When he is pouring from his tea kettle or coffee pot into a cup, he makes a "wsh"ing sound. So cute! When he shakes his salt shaker, he'll sometimes go "sh sh sh" as he sprinkles it into the pot or pan that he's using. All the things that I've been doing while we've been pretend cooking have not gone unnoticed I guess. I just love it! As he presses the non-electronic keypad on the microwave I've been making beeping noises and tonight after dinner, he was pressing the sticker keys and looking at me to make the beeps so I suspect he will be making his own sounds soon. After he "makes" some soup or eggs, he'll offer you a bite by putting the spoon near your mouth. But note: he needs his spatula for the eggs and a spoon if it's soup. If you take a pretend taste and say "mmm" or "yummy," Finley gets a big smile. He'll also taste it himself and then get back to cooking. I have a feeling that pretend play might become a favorite of mine to sit back and watch!
Our little top chef begins and ends his day playing in his kitchen now and it's nice to have a new go-to activity around here :) My next task is to get a video of all of this!
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