Boys at Play

We're lucky that both Aaron and Mudgie are good at playing. Mudgie comes up with these elaborate stories that he uses his trains, little people, cars, etc. to act out. He's also still at a stage where he is not at all self-concious about doing this in front of us, so it's a lot of fun to see. Aaron's play is really more about manual manipulation at this point. He loves putting covers on and off his bottles or sippy cups. He loves putting puzzle pieces in and out of their right places. He loves putting things in and out of buckets, cups, etc.

In fact, both boys (when in a good mood) can entertain themselves for a good bit of time. The problem arises, however, when their play worlds intersect in a way that diverges from the vision either one or both of them had. If Aaron tries to use the little person Mudgie was playing with to put in and out of the car, disaster ensues, and we end up with 2 screaming children. However, there are also times when, miraculously, they are both reading from the same script, and we can all have a moment when we really play together.

Take the tent game, for example. Mudgie loves to build a tent (with blankets and pillows) and to hide inside, waiting to be scared. Aaron loves to lift up blankets and play peek-a-boo. When he can manage to do this with enough dexterity so as not to knock over the fort, Mudgie loves playing with "Aaron Monster." Don't ask what happens if, in the process of this game, Aaron loses his balance, grabs onto a blanket to steady himself, and destroys Mudgie's tent as everything (Aaron included) goes crashing to the ground. Ok, I'll tell you. Mudgie screams because Aaron broke his fort, and Aaron screams because Mudgie is screaming, until he realizes he's laying in a pile of pillows and blankets, and then he just snuggies with them for a bit.

Mudgie is also really into mimicking Dave and me. As we were playing the other day, Mudgie put some blankets into a basket to "do laundry." He also broke out Aaron's play laptop because he "had to work" (see pictures above) like Daddy. This kid doesn't miss a beat, and if he really wants to do laundry, I'm happy to make that happen!

We had a pretty low-key week. On Friday the boys and I went to my friend Hannah's Stroller Strides class. After she made us (well, me) sweat profusely, we went back to her house to visit, and to meet her new little girl, Alaina. Mudgie played really well with Collin, her 2.5-year-old boy. Mudgie still didn't really play with Collin, but the two of them shared really well! Mudgie asked to see Collin's bedroom, and when we went up there and saw the crib in Collin's room, he was so confused, and couldn't understand why Collin, a big boy, would sleep in a crib. Aaron also played really well, especially considering he skipped his morning nap. In fact, the only time he got even a little clingy was when he saw Hannah's boppy. It is the same one (same cover and everything) that we have, and when he saw it, he associated it with nursing, and he then needed some "mommy time." Funny how those little brains work.

I think my favorite new "thing" of the week was discovering how I could have "conversations" with Aaron in the car. On the way home from Hannah's on Friday, I wanted to keep the boys awake so they would take a good nap at home. In an effort to keep them up, we played the "what does the say?" game. While Mudgie would usually answer first, if I then specifically asked Aaron, he would respond. Yay for new tricks!