For whatever reason, this is the most coveted, most-often-played-with, soon to be fought over, prized toy in our household.
I must note: we have two girls.
I'm not a huge girly-girl myself, so I have to say it makes me happy that they're not into frills and lace and princesses. Yet. I know the day may come, but for now, we'll play pirates. And enjoy it while it lasts.
Audrey plays with the Little People pirate ship every day, for at least an hour at a time. Pirates play on it. Baby Jesus plays on it. Mary and Joseph and the shepherds play on it. Various farm animals find their way onto the pirate ship. I even caught the three wise men taking a ride on it recently. But apparently the wise men don't translate just anywhere. She also has nativity finger puppets, and was making the wise men dance around on her fingers yesterday, so I adapted a little rhyme about "5 little monkeys sitting in a tree," to "5 little wise men sitting in a tree..." but was immediately corrected. "Wise men don't live in trees!" My bad. But apparently they do live on pirate ships. Figure that one out.
Norah also plays with the Little People pirate ship. Whenever she can get her hands on it. Somehow she knows the difference between Little People and baby toys. The baby toys never distract her. (They do keep Audrey entertained, by the way...note her playing with Norah's toys in the background.) I can shake rattles, music playing objects, and stuffed animals at this one all day long, but NOTHING is as interesting or entertaining as the beloved pirate ship.
She rolls to it. She crawls to it. I have a feeling, sooner rather than later, she'll be pulling up to it. Because someone else has found a place where she can (currently) hoard it, and play with it undisturbed.
So here's my tangent for the day: it began with the pirate ship and ended with me giggling at my crazy-imaginative daughter. This morning I laid out a blanket and told Audrey she could pretend it was the ocean for the pirate ship to sail on. She thought this was great fun, but soon I found her completely naked, rolling around "in the ocean." (I have a picture of this, and it is darn cute. Nudie buns, laying on a blanket, pirate ship by her side. Unfortunately it's not quite internet appropriate, so I won't be sharing it with you today. Use your imagination.) I told her she needed to put her clothes on, and she said "I won't wear clothes! I need to play at the beach!" Finally I convinced her to at least put her undies on, assuring her we could "pretend it's your swimsuit." Apparently she's at a topless beach today. Don't tell Daddy.
