"A present for you!"

Have you seen the SS Elmo episode about birthdays and presents? Mr. Noodle, with the help of friends, learns how to wrap a present. Early in the day yesterday Vanessa came to me with a block and asked for paper. It didn't take me long to figure out that she wanted paper to wrap her present, especially since once I handed her the paper, she then asked for tape. :) We sat together while she worked really hard to fold the paper and tear the tape. She didn't do all the folds on her own -- she asked politely for Mommy's help. And she also asked for help to cut the tape into smaller, more workable pieces. Sometimes the pieces would stick more to her little fingers than to the paper, so she needed a little help with that too!

"Happy to you!"

She carried the present around most of the day and would "give" it to us over and over. It's neat to see her developing the concept of giving. I can remember when I was between 4 and 6 and I wanted to give gifts to those I spent most of my time with. For instance, I'd sneak into Mom and Dad's bedroom and take something that already belonged to them. I'd then wrap it with whatever I could find (sometimes I just hid it behind me) and then I would give it back to them. (And let me make it clear that I wasn't playing Robin Hood by taking from one to give to another -- I always gave back whatever it was to the original owner. :)