Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Try a Little Pretenderness

Today was about as normal a day as James has had in a while. He got on the bus this morning eagerly and had a good day at school. I did hear from his teacher that he is back to eating sand, though: gah!!!

I picked him up after school and we did the weekly shopping together, with a potty break in the store. May I just say here that I am in love with the bathrooms at Trader Joe's? They are on the ground floor, look homier than my own bathroom, are clean and large enough for a mom with 2 kids under 7 for a family bathroom break. But I digress ...

James spent a bunch of time in the cart pretending he was in a rocket. He kept counting down from 10 in the checkout line and yelled "Blast off!!" at the end. This is the first time I have seen him this playful while shopping. The test cooker loved it and gave him a juice box. The bagger cracked up and gave him a balloon. Both tried to engage him in conversation.

I gave him a few seconds to respond and then prompted him with a leading question so he could respond. It was so different from him being silent or making the eternal "eeeeeee" sound. He seemed so calm and happy, and I was too -- just more excited on the inside.

He also kept saying "Mom! Mickey Mouse!" At first I thought it was because he wanted to go home and finish watching some cartoons from earlier in the day, but then I realized he was talking about my new purse, with Mickey Mouse designs. We had fun counting them, and saying "peek-a-boo, Mickey!" when we came across a partial mouse in the design.

After a nap, his sister told him they were going to have a party! Her teacher is very big on parties as a reward for successfully following instructions. James said "yay" in a low voice, then grabbed a birthday party hat from the table, voluntarily put it on his head and said "yay ... happy birthday! Happy birthday!" This is all new and fun.

And at bed time, he now likes to put his stuffed animals on his head and sing the Laurie Berkner song "Pig on Her Head."

I am loving this playful, pretending side coming out. It's like I am seeing more of James, and he's a really fun-loving guy.

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