I win at two-year-old!

So Friday night userinfokathrynt IM’d me out of the blue saying that she and userinfoemmacrew were going to dash down to Berkeley for a show they were desperate to see, since they’d scored very cheap roundtrip airfare, and would it be at all possible for me to come over and watch her little girl Lillian since Lily’s daddy userinfollachglin was going to be occupied with an all-day RPG session?

Sure, I said, since I like Q and Erik and I like their kid too. Q obligingly came over to pick me up for my chiro appointment yesterday morning and then bought me tasty food at Caffe Ladro, and then I hung out with Lily for a couple of hours and engaged in various methods of Entertaining a Two-Year-Old. Mostly this involved running around after her in circles in the backyard, giving her a ride on my shoulders, and joining her in throwing balls of various sizes in random directions. We did also have a cogent discussion (well, cogent for a two-year-old) about why the airplane she spotted making a line across the sky would not in fact be able to “come here!”

That was all fun. Then last night several friends came over for pleasant tabletop gaming: userinfojessicac and her little girl Moira (who is good friends with Lily), userinfogargoyd, userinfowrog and his little boy William, and userinfojennygriffee! For extra bonus child amusement, we also had Lily since Jessica had taken over Lilywatching, until Erik could come by our place and pick her up. That was all fun too.

However, I didn’t get in as much of the cardplaying as the other grownups did–because the children decided that I was the best possible play participant. Apparently I won quite a few points by putting on the Great Big DVD and playing “Donkey Riding”, which Lily and Moira both adore. (And I’m telling ya, folks, there are few things cuter than a pair of two-year-olds trying to beat on a big drum and singing “Donkey Riding” as best they can in their not-yet-developed voices, right along with my B’ys.) I got more points by playing the Lift Them Off the Edge of the Couch Game, in which my part was to hoist them up over the edge of the couch every time they went “I CAN’T REACH!” Related to this, there was also the Who Could Possibly Be Behind Me? Game, in which my job was apparently to sit in my usual spot on the couch while small persons got behind me and giggled while I said “I wonder who this is behind me?” and they’d say “ME!”

Moira asked me at one point if I was a mommy, and I told them no, I was their mommy’s friend and that my name was Anna. This apparently stuck. Q IM’d me this afternoon to inform me that her little girl was saying, “I want my Anna. I want to go see my Anna. I want my Anna back. I DO need my Anna!”

I win at making friends and influencing two-year-olds. <3