Peek-a-Baby
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 10:38 PM
Dinner was nearly over, but Bryan and I were still finishing our food. Our hopping up multiple times during a meal to refill a milk cup or grab a napkin means that our kids often finish eating before we do, and tonight was no exception. Camilla had already been excused. The baby decided the remaining chunks of shrimp and pasta on his tray held no interest for him. He started grumping.
I could have picked him up and eaten the rest of my meal with him on my lap, but instead - since our daughter was jumping around so energetically - I tagged her in. “Camilla,” I asked her, “will you please play peek-a-boo with Blaise?”
She obligingly dropped to her hands and knees and started crawling around his high chair, popping her head up first on one side, then on the other side. He twisted in the chair to watch her, shrieking happily. Every time he spotted his sister’s face again, he’d crack up. We enjoyed the rest of our dinner while watching our little guy’s delighted laughter. It’s certainly the best “dinner theatre” I’ve ever experienced!
Camilla continued playing with her brother for a while, and Blaise never got tired of it. She eventually got bored and walked away, but he would have played for hours, I think.
Robyn wrote last week about children’s inexplicable love for the book Goodnight Moon, and I feel the same way about peek-a-boo. I can understand the appeal, but why do babies get *so incredibly excited* about it?
I’m sure there are exceptions, but it’s worked amazingly well with both my babies. If the little one is grumpy or restless, I hide my face and then suddenly show it to him. Rinse, repeat, and enjoy the baby laughs. The game never seems to lose its appeal.
I’m not complaining about having a surefire way to make my baby happy. I love it. But it is weird, you know what I mean?
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
