"You guys sing..."

I've been noticing and delighting in LP's evolving storytelling. She's moved from responding to more and more initiating.

Now instead of "Tell me a story." she will say "Tell me a story about a space heater who had a cold and needed a cup of tea."

The same is true for songs...she's been saying "Sing a song about a Wild Thing named Violin Case who wants her Mommy."

These requests are so alive and energetic as she moves toward taking on more and more creative control of the stories. I'm reminded how like so many developmental leaps, it is building on the many, many stories I've told, ImprovDad has told, books we've read, stories we've created together ~ some fun, some boring, some logical, some nonsense ~all of these contribute to the magic of now.

Today in the car on the way back from a hike in the Oakland hills, she was calling out to us "You guys sing a song about Sarabbi walking Lulu the dog wearing poodle shoes." (Sarabbi is her new name for herself)

And so we did. And then another and another. All different, all directed by LP. My favorite car ride as a family to date.

Happy New Year, LP ~ I'm looking forward to all the stories we have ahead of us in 2010.