The Best Toy

Clara Grace amused herself on the morning of April sixth by rolling across her nursery floor through the obstacle course of interesting toys her mommy had laid out. First, she pulled the large gumball machine toward herself and pressed the lever to receive her prize. Then she rolled twice and wound up beside her fishbowl, which she rocked vigorously to obtain music and bubble sounds. Then she was off for a rocking dish, which contained several large balls filled with various sea creatures. She kicked it repeatedly and was rewarded with the raucous knocking of its plastic balls. Next she found her way to a cloth block, which she flipped over and over with each side producing a different song. She reached the finish line and bumped up against her blow up turtle on whose back she had first rolled over so many weeks ago. Her mommy reentered the room after eating breakfast to find Clara Grace stroking the turtle’s polka doted foot as if to tell mommy and the turtle, “Look what I can do now. Although this was not the first time Clara Grace played by herself, it was the first time she played in her room making decisions about which toy to play with. Mommy is still useful however since at this point, Clara Grace only rolls one direction efficiently and needs to be reset at the beginning of the track.