The whale, the shark and the dolphin

They sleep in his bed, they bathe with him, they join him at the dinner table. The whale, the shark and the dolphin are members of our family in baby boy's eyes. He offers them bites of food, and sips of milk. They are adorned with kisses and snuggles. They are given daily bubble baths. If I so much as touch them, he yells "NO!!!! Don't moving them, Mom!"

*****************************

My cousin in Texas has an outdoor fireplace. When we were hanging out in his backyard last month, baby boy had great fun opening its cover and filling it with pebbles. When questioned what he was doing, he replied "I'm fixing the fireplace."

At home, he's equally as consumed with fireplace repair. One day we caught him sneaking off with an over rack. He placed it on the coffee table and covered it in crumbled up paper and building blocks. Afterwards, he proclaimed "I fixed the fireplace!"

********************************

I love his creative imagination. When we are out in public he is able to turn any object into a toy. At IKEA, he played for over half and hour in one of the kitchen modules. He made rows and rows of pancakes out of hotplates. He pretended that cabinet drawers and shelves were oven racks.

At the coffee shop, he found a metal newspaper stand. Immediately he transformed into a barbecue. He came over and served everyone imaginary "beef."

Bubbles in the sink or bathtub are used to make igloos out of.

His blocks and little dog house are regularly transformed into parking garages. A roll of masking tape around his ankle becomes a pair of skates. His toy vegetable basket works just as well as a hockey helmet. Our coasters are always missing in action and often found sitting inside one of his toy pots and pans.

The crawlspace next to the couch is his cave. "I'm going in the cave mom" he tells me, ducking down out of site.


************************

I asked the little guy if he would like to put his marine animals in the sink, as I pointed to his whale, shark and dolphin. Confused, he replied, "The whale's not green, Mom. He's black."

************************


"I want to wash a sink." Translation: I want to play in the sink. This has become our new routine. While we're cooking dinner, baby boy plays in the sink. Yesterday I caught him slathering dish soap all over his tummy. "I put cream on," he said.