It started with his baby doll. Ethan has a baby that is dressed like a boy and has a bottle and real baby diaper on. He goes in spurts when he plays with this doll, and most of the time it just sleeps in a basket that we call a baby bed.
I was reading on the couch and he wanted to read a book to his baby. He brought me the book Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley and placed the baby in between us while we read the book. After the book he decided the baby was hungry. He started feeding the baby with the plastic bottle and I decided that this was a great teaching opportunity to prep for baby boy #2. I got a burp cloth and explained about putting a pillow to elevate the baby's head, and we were off on our pretend play adventure!
Next, he announced loudly that the baby was poopy and he needed his diaper changed. Ethan asked if he could undress the baby and change the diaper. I agreed that this was a great idea since the smell of the diaper was getting very strong, and explained to him where the infant diapers were as well as the wipes. You would have thought it was Christmas, watching him change the diaper of the baby doll.
In mid-diaper change, Derrick came home and watched as Ethan wiped the baby doll's bottom with the wipes and placed a new, clean diaper on.
He then changed the outfit, fed the baby again and then burped the baby... who, in his words "started puking all over the couch!". After the puking stopped he decided the baby needed a bath, so we pretended to bathe the baby and again changed outfits.
At this time, I started my sewing project and Ethan continued playing on his own, asking me to help when he needed someone to check him out at the grocery store (our pantry in the kitchen) or when he needed someone to help him with the snaps on the baby clothes. He and Derrick even put the baby down for his nap and Ethan went shopping while the baby was resting.
Before I knew it, Derrick was recruited to be 'Mommy' and I was assigned the title of 'big brother'. We were all to get ready because it was Halloween and we were going to go trick-or-treating. We all took a walk down the hallway, following Ethan's lead, and trick-or-treated in our bedroom, bathroom and master closet, receiving broken crayons as our pretend candy. He thanked every neighbor we visited with a "Thank you and Happy Halloween" before moving on to the next door.
When we returned from trick-or-treating, it was time to get ready for bed and we all were instructed to get our PJ's on and go to bed because "tomorrow is Christmas and Santa is coming". He put a few colored bead necklaces in the corner where we set up the Christmas tree along with some sticks from his Tinker Toys to make a triangle.
I sat down on the couch and said I was sleeping, but Ethan corrected me and sent me to my room to go to sleep. So we all went into his bedroom and pretended to go to sleep. We then woke up and it was Christmas morning! He passed out our gifts (the bead necklaces) and we talked about what we got and how excited we were about the gifts.
After this, the house was a disaster from all the creativity, and we focused on cleaning up and putting away so we could get ready for our 'real' bedtime.
Tomorrow, I am sure it will all start over again!
I love being a Mommy and being able to experience the joy and creativity of pretend play with a 3 year old! We had so much fun tonight and I was very impressed with Ethan's baby care skills. I know he will be a GREAT big brother!!
Thank you Lord for these gifts! We are truly blessed!
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