Anjali Sage: A Few of Anjali's Favorite Things ~ at Three Years Old

Here are a few of the many things Anjali loves Right Now.

She has really gotten into pretending. At any given moment, something will trigger an idea or memory of a story in her, and she will begin directing whoever is around to act out the characters. Last night it was Bonny Bobby Shaftoe (a Mother Goose poem): "Papi, you be Bobby Shaftoe, and I'll be the kitty cat," (in her Richard Scarry edition of Mother Goose, all the characters are illustrated as animals dressed and acting like humans). And so we went through the poem and acted it out. Then she directed us to change characters. Now Papi and I were the kitty cat, and she was Bobby Shaftoe. After their favorite of the Halloween Festival, where two women were dressed up as pigs and pretended to eat from a trough, Anjali and Stella have been pretending to be piggies ~ when they're not pretending to be kitties or doggies. :)

Anjali still loves to play at playgrounds.

She loves swinging, and has just figured out how to swing herself, by pumping her legs forward and back ~ a big development. :)

Of course, her favorite is still playing with other kids, and especially Stella. Still every morning after she wakes up, she wonders what Stella is up to. We can barely get some food in her before she is wanting to knock on Stella's door to play.

She loves dancing. And loves the classic bellydance records we found upon moving into our house here in Corvallis.

And with that, she loves costuming. She loves tying and draping scarves and fabric around and on herself to make costumes. And then dancing in them.

Her favorite clothes of all are any from Stella's closet. ;)

And of course she loves putting on makeup ~ on herself as well as on others, and has described in astonishing length all the imaginary tattoos she has on her body!

She loves laughing.

And being outside barefoot, no matter (almost!) how cold it is.

Oh, and she'd still rather be naked ("nappy") than clothed in most any circumstance. Unless it's a costume. ;)

She and Stella have discovered what a jungle gym the couch can be.

And speaking of jumping ~ she loves the trampoline in the neighbors' backyard.

She likes to paint.

She loves looking at books and having books read to her, and has lately been able to correct us if we change a word after having only heard the book read maybe two times. I'm not exaggerating. After having a book read to her a few times, she turns the pages and recites many of the words verbatim.

She loves being tickled and "zerberted" and playing rough with Papi.

She loves snuggling, and she still loves having "boogie." :)

She has been enjoying all the biking we've been doing here in Corvallis; she sings just about the whole way to and fro.

What are her favorite foods? She still loves fruit. I'm pretty sure she likes it best. She's enjoyed being able to pick an apple off the abundant and delicious apple trees we have at our disposal here on the property. She loves chips and noodles and bread whenever she has the opportunity. She likes chicken meat and hot dogs, and she likes her eggs with the yolk still runny. Cheese, especially the soft chevre-type goat cheese, of which she could (and has) eat a whole package in one sitting! She loves honey and molasses and maple syrup. Ice cream. She likes soup. And she likes to munch on the cabbage when we make sauerkraut. And just as with Stella's clothes, Anjali especially likes whatever other people have at their house for her to snack on!

Her favorite music is Elizabeth Mitchell, the folksinger I've mentioned before. Although she can croon with Aretha Franklin, and boogies and sings to Harry Belefonte and calypso.

She adores being silly. And saying silly things. Lately she has thought it a riot to change words to other rhyming words or sounds to make a sentence nonsensically silly.

Anjali's favorite of all is people ~ loved ones and friends ~ in general. In any given situation (probably even if she were sick), she prefers being around lots of people.