Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Open Invitation

Daniel needs a sibling - pronto!

He delights in playmates, preferring company to solitude. He asks for his friends and teachers by name before and after school. And it is virtually impossible to do housework while at home with him - those big brown eyes imploring you to "Come on, Mommy! Come play in my room!" What dishes?!

We play blocks (making straight lines, towers or walls), dominoes (making stair and house formations), drawing games (usually him telling me what characters and animals to draw), happy birthday games (us putting things on our heads like a candle on a "happy birthday cake" and singing to each other, alphabet games (drawing letters, flashcards, practicing sounds, singing ABCs), and about 12 variations of hide & seek and chase. He still loves to be scared!

If we are unavailable to play for some reason, Daniel resorts to the cats. Yesterday I actually caught him trying to put a hand puppet on a sleeping Mittens. He lays on his stomach to face Max, and rolls cat toys towards him gently... or not so gently. Occasionally, he shoves books in their face to get them to read, and frequently invites them to come play in his room or in his tent.

Today on the way to school, Daniel looked up at the sun and said, "Sun, do you want to go to school too? Come here, sun! Come with me." (And he proceeded to reach towards it, clucking softly and rubbing his fingers together as if he were calling the cats.) Holy precious.

Adding another child will definitely be a challenge in a lot of ways - I know the adjustment will not be minor. But the benefit of having a "live in" peer and playmate will far outweigh the initial challenges. (And the cats will finally be able to nap in peace!)

1 comment:

Tasha said...

Another member of family will just add more love in the mix. :) Daniel will be a wonderful big brother...there is no doubt!