Mini Muebles

Anika has always been a me, too! kind of child. She insists on "helping" me water the plants, vacuum, do the laundry, wash the floors, clean the toilet, put away the silverware, etc. etc. etc. to the point that it now takes me approximately FOREVER to get anything done.

Enter Santa in July. After one too many launches off of the kitchen chairs, my parents decided that Ani needed her own, appropriately-sized table and chairs, and ordered a set for immediate delivery, figuring that come Christmas time I can slap a big bow on the table and call it a day. Well, the table and chairs arrived earlier this week, and Ani is so very proud. She now takes her little bowl of food, places it carefully on the table, and then proceeds to climb onto the teeny little chair as if it is still the Mt. Rushmore-sized adult chair. Graceful she is not, but somehow she gets herself situated and is clearly very pleased that this table is just for her.

We had decided to place the table in the kitchen alongside the island that houses our stovetop. Bad idea, as you can imagine, because the very first thing she did is climb up onto the table and put her hands on the burners. The table is now safely in the corner of the eat-in area of our kitchen, but we are still on constant watch because she figured out two seconds after the chairs were put together that she can push them and lift them and take them places and use them to reach things that were previously out of reach.

Thanks a lot, mom and dad.

Actually, I am not being facetious when I say that. This is a Christmas present that will be very tough to beat.

 The elves, putting together the table and chairs.

And here is what Reni was doing throughout this whole process:

The next morning, the table and the kiddo in the table's new home, safely away from the stovetop:

Reni got his own furniture this week too, and unless he wants to be HELD, dammit, he loves the comfort it provides and the view of the world. It does place him dangerously exposed to his big sister's kisses and feet tickles, but we keep hoping that at some point she will actually understand what gentle means.