The Obstacle Course--Sort Of

     So, I know it's been nearly a week, but it has been a happenin' one, and so I haven't gotten the chance to really do a whole lot with Madelyn other than basic care/play. There's been a lot of medical stuff going on in my family, and so, truthfully, she's done more visiting than even being with me. So, yesterday, since her Daddy is currently a gimp--we decided to try something that would be easy to make, easy to play with, and easy to take down with a torn hamstring. And, since the Chicken has been working on her crawling, I decided an obstacle course would be JUST the thing.

  It wasn't.

  Madelyn had zero desire to crawl through all of my carefully crafted ideas--from the Box of Beads over Pillow Mountain to the Laundry Basket of Mismatched Balls. It is my opinion that her desire to move forward failed her, since the first stop (the Box of Beads) was such a hit. We took an old cardboard box, opened both ends to make a tunnel and hung cheapy beads from the top. Since it was a tad dark in there, we went ahead and threw in a couple of glow sticks on the side, like runway lights. (They did not stay to the side.)

 Mostly, I think she thought the beads were wonderful for eating. Matt stood at the top of the box sometimes and shook it, yelling, "Oh, no, Madelyn! It's an earthquake!" She thought that was especially funny.



She spent a good few minutes trying to decide just what the purpose of the glowstick was. This, below,  is her, "What in the gravy sakes is this?" face.

When she got a little fussy, she went down for a nap, but thankfully, the whole idea was still somewhat novel to her when she woke up! (The difference in her hair between before nap and after is significant. Don't judge. :P )

 When she woke up, I made the executive decision to leave her next to the Laundry Basket of Mismatched Balls,instead of going back into box. Without the beads, the balls became far more fascinating.  She especially liked the blue with polka dots. 
Daddy had found a squishy, green, sort of ball with almost slimy green arms. The Chicken has developed a love hate relationship with that sort of ball. It totally grosses her out, so she will touch it and then make the awfullest face! She pulls on the arms, then wipes her hands on whatever is convenient around. And, yet, she couldn't seem to stop touching it!

All in all, the obstacle course as a course was not successful. As individual play stations, however, it was a great game! Definitely Chicken approved!