Baby D takes a stroll with one of her (or rather, my) handbags
Diana has become something of a toddling bag-a-holic. It's unclear if this is a girly thing or the early signs of some kind of OCD-related hoarding complex, but Diana's favourite thing to do is pack and unpack handbags. Or more accurately, all bags, or anything that remotely resembles a bag.
Diana is indiscriminate about what she carries - a bucket, mini suitcase that a pair of her baby shoes came in, spider-embellished Halloween purse, cosmetic bag, Daddy's briefcase or one of mum's designer hold-alls (the bigger the better), will do in her quest to become the world's biggest busybody. She will happily stuff these hold-alls with blocks, plastic telephones, brushes, bits of paper, dates I feed her – anything and everything she comes across.
One handbag at a time usually won't suffice. Her preferred mode of going anywhere is with daddy's briefcase clasped in one hand, a stuffed purse slung on the other, and yet another overstuffed handbag (with toy bottle, meant for baby doll but which D keeps trying to steal) dangling from her new dolly's buggy, which she is simultaneously trying to push.
We're not quite done yet. Whenever Diana goes anywhere, she likes to have something stuffed in either hand. So if I'm feeding her grapes, she needs one in either palm before she can actually eat the third one I offer. Add this to the multiple handbags and buggy she's pushing and it's amazing she is able to balance herself upright.
Compulsive bag hoarding, packing and unpacking and trying to push anything and everything aren't Diana's only obsessive habits. When she walks in the park, she needs to step over everything that's a darker colour (instead of jumping over the gaps in the concrete as some kids do, she likes to walk on them).
The other day at the playground, surrounded by swings and slides and children – normally the stuff of D's fantasies – she suddenly ran away towards the gate. She didn't want to leave; she just wanted to open the gate, get out, walk a few steps, turn around, walk back, re-open the gate, re-enter, and repeat the whole process 500 times (until I begged her to let us leave).
So it's safe to say that gates are another one of her interests.
Stacking and arranging habits are common in kids this age, so I'm not too worried about baby D's obsessive tendencies. Plus, a lot of this behaviour started post-New York City trip, after D saw us travelling laden down with suitcases and bags every day (which is now leading me to the inevitable conclusion that I may have overdone the shopping just a tad). I'm pretty confident D is mainly trying to mimic my behaviour with the carrying and the pushing.
Worryingly, she's also trying to imitate another family member - Bolshy the bulldog. After seeing him lick a piece of food off the ground, Diana got on her knees and proceeded to lick the floor.
Kind of a disaster. But, on the plus side, she definitely isn't obsessive about cleanliness.