Let's Pretend

Mason has always found interesting ways to be creative. I smile thinking of the phase he went through when he found joy in helping by getting an ice pack if you were hurt. I imagine he liked the feeling he got when he was caring for someone. He even gave you a choice, "Do you want the green one or the fish one?" Unfortunately, the opportunity to tend to others in this manner didn't always present itself often enough for his liking so he would "create". Out of no where he would come up and hit me on the leg or arm and look at me with all sincerity in body language and tone of voice, "You need an ice pack, Mommy?" Then he would run to the freezer and ask, "You want the green one or the fish one?"

Lately he has been in a major pretending phase which is so comical and a joy to observe and interact with. When he is unable to have what he wants he is quite content settling for "a pretend one". I discovered this one day when we were in the car. He said, "Mommy, I need a Bandaid."

I replied, "I don't have any Bandaids here in the car, you'll have to wait until we get home."

"It's okay Mommy it could just be a pretend Bandaid," he said.

This was brilliant. All I had to do was make sure to actually pretend to get it out and then hand it to him (you do need to actually do the pretending part, too I have come to realize). I have since tried it out multiple times to much success. Do you want some pretend coffee? I can't walk on the "balance beam" (frame of the playhouse) while I am feeding Ellie. "Well you can just pretend, Mommy." Cool. I will sit in this rocker, watching you climb and pretend to join you. This is where the pretending on my part was put to the test. I had to give a running commentary of how I would cruise along the balance beam, following him. He made sure I didn't leave out any important parts. If I did, I was quickly reminded, "No you have to jump over that part."

On a random tangent, Mason loves to get a "Vanilla Latte" at Starbucks with me, which is a kids milk. The other day we stopped at Peets on our way to Tahoe and I was running in to get some drinks. I asked him if he wanted a milk and he said, "No, I'm fine with just a 'Nilla Latte." Oh, okay.

The other day, Josh headed to Home Depot for more playhouse supplies while Mason, Ellie and I hung out here. We decided to play blocks. Ellie was so excited to be included. She loves her big brother Mason. She looks at him with loving eyes. She quiets down in the car when he sings Jingle Bells to her when she cries. She smiles at him. It is so cute. On this particular day, Ellie laid on the Boppy pillow. Mason had gone into his room and brought out his cozy blanket and suggested we lay it over the Boppy "so she will be all snuggly". He then proceeded to gather all the "food from his fridge". Each block was another piece of pretend food. He would give them to Ellie and say, "It's okay Mommy, it's just pretend."

Mason thought it was so great to be playing with Ellie. He has been asking to hold her a lot more often. When I was pregnant we wondered how he would react when he discovered she was not going to be the playmate he was picturing right off the bat. He has done well with helping and protecting her and finds ways to interact with her. She always makes him smile and he stands a bit taller when he tells me he's her big brother. He had fun giving her pretend food and learning how to do it safely.

Ellie would just look up at him and smile each time he added more "food".

Soon she had quite the feast.

Then she started to get a bit full.

Our little masterpiece!