How to Play With Toys

99% of the time when R encounters a toy, she does not do the thing that I think she is supposed to do with it, or the thing that I expect she will really like doing with it.

This lesson has become especially clear when watching her play with this dinosaur toy that J couldn't resist buying for R at our local Once Upon a Child-- I think he picked it up when she was only a couple of months old.
When she finally got old enough to sit up on her own and hold the balls that came with it, I fully expected her to want to put the balls through the colored rings at the top of the dinosaur. When the balls go in, they push a little trigger that then makes music start playing. She didn't so much put the balls through to make the music play, though. She just stuck her hand in there and pushed the thing with her fingers. Much more efficient.

Now, she ignores the top holes altogether and spends most of her time stuffing the balls into the openings they run out of: the two holes you see at the bottom, the big hole in the middle (which isn't a hole the balls come out of but she puts the balls in there, too) and, of course, up the dinosaur's mouth.
I'm sure I have a lot more to learn about how to play with this thing. I'll keep you updated.