Come On In and Please Say Hello to the Animals

My little boy's imagination has really flourished in the last few months. It was initially one of the things his preschool teacher said was "lacking". However, he has really grasped the concept of "pretend play" and, much to my delight, is engaging his "friends" (aka - stuffed animals) to play with him throughout the day. They "play" Go Fish with him, Mousetrap, and any other game he can think of. Don't get me wrong... I am still his built in playmate, but if I need a break which is often the case, he'll have one of the "animals" fill in for me.

Lately he has everyone that comes into our house greet the animals. You won't get passed the front door if you don't say hi to some of his beloved furry stuffed friends. He's pretty insistent that they all get greeted. He loves to take at least 3 furry friends whenever we get in the car. He personally buckles them into a seat in the back of our minivan. It's a ritual and it doesn't matter if it's 70 degrees or -3 degrees outside. He will only get into his car seat once he has probably secured his furry friends.

The other thing you will likely be greeted with at my house these days is a sticker. He seems to be consumed with handing out stickers. We've used stickers for a long time to encourage and reward appropriate behavior..especially during potty training. Now there just seems to be stickers everywhere!! Everyone who comes into the house will likely be given a sticker at some point. I have to be so careful when doing laundry.. I have found stickers on the bottom of socks, on jeans, sweaters and yes, in underwear!! It's actually pretty cute and I'm enjoying this time so much.

So, next time you come over, don't say I didn't warn you about the friends and the stickers...