Puzzled

Since our trip to Destin, Meg has been way into puzzles. I don't know that she even remembered she had many puzzles until our friends in Florida reintroduced Meg to the funny shaped pieces of cardboard.

We came home after that weekend, and Meg was into her 'Belle' puzzle the very next morning. We went to Targer that week, and she lit up in the toy aisle with, "I want that Cars puzzle, Mommy! For my birthday! The one with 'Mater on it!" She did her simple 9 piece puzzles about a million times, and after a day or so totally memorized the 24 piece 'Belle' puzzle she had.

She got 2 new 24 piece puzzles for her birthday. She got one GIANT 24 piece floor puzzle. We found another 24-piecer around here as we cleaned out toys to make room for the birthday loot. So now what does Meg constantly ask to do? Puzzles.

For the most part, she really can do them without help. She gets a little flustered when she can't snap a piece into place or when she just can't seem to turn one so that it will fit just right. But, overall, she has mastered the 24 piece puzzles. I'm actually shocked that she can do them so well, I'll admit. I thought for sure they would be too hard. As usual, my first born never ceases to amaze me. I love to listen to her think out loud as she does them . . . "This is red, so it must be a piece of Lightin' A Queen" (Lightening McQueen's name around here) . . . or "This is a straight side, so it must be an edge . . . " It's fun to listen to her little mind work.

The only drawback? (Well, aside from the fact that Kate constantly wants to get into Meg's puzzle pieces.) I, myself, am not much of a puzzle-doer. Sadly, I just never was able to get into puzzles. Maybe they are too hard . . . I tend to shy away from stuff that I find way too difficult, especially in my 'down time' -- which is when I would do a puzzle. Maybe I'm not wired with that kind of thinking. I can do the 24 piece puzzles, of course. But I worry that a day will come here in the not-too-distant future when she'll be ready to bump up to 50-75-100 piece gigs, and she will totally surpass me in her puzzle-making abilities. Probably by like age 5, if she's anything like the kids we visited in Florida.

Jim, on the other hand, is totally a puzzle guy. He put together the girls (massive) swingset from about 1600(+) pieces and one instruction manual. And totally, throughly enjoyed the massive puzzle that is now our backyard playground. His engineering mind likes to figure things out, put stuff together. I think he enjoys working on the puzzles with Meg a bit more than I do.

For now, I'll take the quiet time that comes when Meg is working on her puzzles. And I'll help when I hear the occassional, "I can't doooo it." Hey -- at least it gets her off the TV, which as I've mentioned before, is typically her drug of choice.