Imaginative Play

Caleb and Ethan's imaginative play has really been something else lately. Many days, they play together for hours, with virtually no conflict. The seven hours of morning and early afternoon that used to be full of going to the zoo, the science center, etc, are now filled with creating elaborate imaginary worlds in the play room. Caleb's imagination seems to know no bounds, and Ethan is becoming just as creative as his brother.

In the midst of whatever story/situation they set up and play-act in, they are usually pretending to be some character from a book or a movie that is completely unrelated to the current scenario. For example, Superman (Ethan) and Ursula (Caleb) will be orchestrating a pirate adventure in which the pirates are kidnapping animals from a zoo and selling them on the black market (in their words "selling them to ugly guys for lots of money"). Usually, they take on a "main" persona for the whole day, and even like me to call them by that name. (Sometimes I oblige them, and sometimes I don't.)

Ethan almost always pretends to be one superhero or another. His current favorite is Wolverine (though he has absolutely no knowledge of Wolverine, other than a page in his superhero coloring book), though Batman, Superman, and a pirate are frequent favorites as well.

Caleb, at the moment, is on a Disney Princess kick. He was"Ariel" for about four days in a row, and yesterday he pretended to be Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty) all day. Before the princess kick, his favorites were Aladdin, Spiderman and Venom.

I let them pretend as much as they want at home, but they do have to shed their persona's and answer to their given names when we go out. This is not accomplished without resistance, but, when it comes to a conflict of wills, nothing much is :)

The Magic House

I read this post, The Magic House, on my friend's blog this morning, and I really wish I'd thought of writing it myself :) With his permission, I have copied and pasted it here:

I was talking with the CFO the other night about how we live in a Magic House. She was intrigued and decided to play my little game. She indulges me from time to time as I have very little adult interaction during the day. She said "Really?" I then began to explain all the "Magic" that seems to happen in and around the house. (I may turn this into a childrens' book so don't even think of stealing this idea or the totally cool illustrations I have in my head that go along with the story.)

• Empty cups that are set down suddenly appear in the sink and/or dishwasher.
• The towels never seem to get dirty.
• The clothes that we wear every day seem to reappear in our drawers, folded!
• The toys that were left out before nap time have migrated back to their bins.
• The bed makes itself every morning.
• Come to think of it, the sheets never seem to get dirty either.
• The van never runs out of gas and the CFO's company car even refills itself sometimes.
• Batteries rarely go dead, and, if they do, they seem to recharge overnight.
• After dinner the table cleans itself and the dishes take themselves to the dishwasher.
• The soap dispensers at each and every sink in the house never run out of soap.
• The toilet paper holders, tissue boxes, and paper towel holder all automatically refill.
• Knives stay sharp.
• Meals are cooked, but the pots and pans stay clean.
• The children rarely smell funny:
• Dirt does not stay on our floor very long.
• Dust may sometimes be visible on our dark furniture, but it quickly disappears.
• Air filters do not get very dirty and seem to change themselves.
• When the grass gets too tall, it shrinks back down.
• Annoying weeds frequently disappear.
• Whenever a light burns out, it seems to fix itself.
• The dog always has food to eat and water to drink.
• All of the bills get paid (and most of them on time)
• We never seem to run out of: soap, shampoo, detergent, toothpaste, dental floss, dishwasher soap, bread, milk, eggs and food in general.

I said: "is it little fairies doing all the work? Is it elves? Who knows? Or maybe it is like Disney World where they have all kinds of hidden tunnels where workers can move about the park without the guests knowing about it. Maybe we are the guests and our house has a team of workers that we don't know about. Maybe we should look for hidden tunnels..."

After listening to all this, all the while laughing where appropriate, the CFO nods and says "that is funny." Then she says, "You know what? We also have a magic bank account."

TOUCHE :)

Ethan (Monthly Update)

Sorry, little Ethan, that your monthly update was overshadowed by the July 4th chaos last month. I'll make it up to you today :)

Ethan is 2-years-and-4-months-old today! He seems so old these days...much more like a little boy than a toddler. Ethan is devoted to his big brother. Caleb can talk him into just about anything. Ethan will wake up dry in the morning and we'll go downstairs to pick out his treat. Ethan will excitedly select a big marshmallow as his treat, but then Caleb jumps in and says, "Ethan, don't you want to pick the gum drops so you can have three of them and give one to me?" Ethan changes his choice without hesitation and delightedly hands his brother his choice of gum drops. Then he plays with the other two gum drops for a little while and leaves them on the counter, because he doesn't even like gum drops. (Once in a while, Ethan stands his ground, and I make Caleb back off without a second request.)

Ethan's generous spirit carries over to all his interactions with other kids, too, as long as they ask him nicely. As a rule, he will give anyone anything they want, as long as he is approached politely and respectfully. If someone tries to snatch something from him, or even reaches for it before he has replied, he will shout "NO!" and run away (still a vast improvement on the side swipe the offending child would have received four months ago). As long as he is given a choice, he absolutely loves to make other people/kids happy by giving them what they want.

Ethan's voracious appetite has slowed down some in recent months. He still eats very well, but he doesn't ask for food ten times a day like he used to. Because Caleb practices writing his name every day, Ethan has decided he wants to write his name. For the past two weeks, I've been printing out a handwriting sheet from http://www.handwritingworksheets.com with Ethan's name on it each day, and he traces the letters of his name. He has gotten very, very good at it, and I may start teaching him to do it without tracing. He still loves to color and draw. He thoroughly colors at least three pictures every single day, and sometimes as many as seven or eight.

Ethan is much more opinionated about his clothes than Caleb has ever been. He likes to pick out his own shirts and pants every morning, but, the problem is, he always wants to wear the same shirt and the same shorts. Obviously, the Superman shirt and the "soft" (cotton) shorts that he loves are usually dirty, but he still insists on looking through all his shirts and shorts for them most days. And after he is convinced they are not there, he laboriously sifts through what is there until he makes a decision. About half the time, I tell him that Mommy is going to choose today, and he can choose tomorrow.

Ethan's two favorite toys right now are his Superman figurine and a long, orange Tinker Toy stick. These two toys sleep with him, go on almost every car ride, and even sit on the floor next to his chair during meals. The Tinker Toy stick functions as as sword or a "shooting gun", depending on the play at hand, but it is ALWAYS with him. (I am forever reminding him that he is not allowed to jump off furniture or run with the stick in his hand.) The stick gets confiscated for one reason or another at least once a day, but it is back to being his constant companion as soon as priviliges are returned.

When Ethan was a baby and he cried so much for so many months, I worried about how difficult he might be as a toddler/preschooler. Those worries were like most worries: a big waste of time. He is an absolutely delightful little boy, full of overflowing affection, hilarious antics and unmitigated joy.

Thanks, Buddy

Caleb (running downstairs): Mommy! Something terrible happened! (a common introduction to some accident or mess)

Mommy: What happened?

Caleb: Let me tell you...I had to go pee pee, so I ran up the stairs to the baf-room, but my pee pee was coming too fast, and some of it went on the floor.

Mommy: Oh, well, can you show me where the pee pee is so we can clean it up?

Caleb (head cocked thoughtfully): Let me see...how about this: go upstairs, and, if you slip on something wet, that is where the pee pee is.

Thanks, buddy. Really appreciate the help.

Sleepover

Friday night, we had some friends over for dinner: a friend from church (whose husband had just left on a mission trip) and her two kids and another couple with their son. We all had a delicious dinner together (if the cook can say such a thing :). After dinner, the four boys played in the play room and the five adults played Taboo (baby Lydia hung out with us while we played).

We were all amazed at how well the boys played together. They finished their dinner in about ten minutes and then played mostly independently from 7:00 pm until they went to bed at 11:30, with hardly any conflict. I think an adult had to intervene three times the whole evening. We've all been friends since these boys were two and three years old, and it is MUCH easier to have them all together at four and five than it was then. Ethan, the baby of the group, doesn't seem to have much trouble playing along with the big boys.

Anyway, they interacted so peacefully that us adults were able to talk and play games all evening. Baby Lydia got tired around 8:00, so she crashed in Ethan's retired crib. Around 10:30, we told Lydia's Mommy that she and her two were welcome to stay the night so she didn't have to wake up Lydia and drive home to a dark, empty house (something she and I both really dislike doing). She happily accepted, so we moved toward putting Caleb, Ethan and her son, Matthew, to bed. Jack, our other friends' son, wanted to join in on the sleepover, so he and his mother decided to stay the night as well. It was a little chaotic getting Caleb, Jack & Matthew to go to sleep in our boys' queen bed, but Marcus read them a book, Matthew's mom read them the riot act, and they finally conked out. I put Ethan down in our bed, but he fought sleep even longer than the big boys. Finally, around midnight, all five kids (and Marcus) were asleep. The other two Mommies and I stayed up talking until almost 2:00, when even we finally had to crash.

We were really hoping that the kids would sleep in a little, considering their unprecedented midnight bedtime, but they did not. Baby Lydia was up at 6:00 and her brother joined her shortly after. My boys slept in until 7:00, but they made up for the 7-hour night with a 4-hour afternoon nap. And they weren't even grumpy in the morning! We bid all our friends goodbye at around 8:30 am, and then the boys' and I headed on errands: the bank, the grocery store, Michael's, the library, and the shoe store to get them new shoes. That is a lot of errands for them even on a well-rested morning, but they were cheerful and cooperative all morning. Kids are so unpredictable!