Animals

Animals continue to be a HUGE part of Alec's life.  As far back as we can remember, he has always been intrigued by them and the obsession continues.  When he turned 2 over a year ago, he started pretending he was all different sorts of animals.  Right now he loves pretending he is a: baby skunk, baby deer, baby mice and baby bear.  You have to really remember when he is 'in character', because he won't respond to you unless you address him correctly:  Me- "Please pick up your toys, Alec" Alec- "I'm not Alec, I'm Baby Skunk", Me- "Please pick up your toys, Baby Skunk", Alec-"Ok".

Yesterday I (Lindsay) bought him a mama bear and three bear cubs at the toy store.  He has been taking them everywhere, making sure they are cozy/safe/warm/"fed", etc.  He declared today their birthdays, and threw them an ice cream and cookie party on top of the washer/dryer this morning.

In the car

At the zoo

Ice cream and cookies for everyone!

His nurturing side really comes out with his stuffed animals.  The beauty of them is that they are stuffed and won't bite or scratch him, the way the real cats in our house do.  Tikka, our large black cat, is extremely patient and sweet with him but Frisky hisses and scratches him if he comes near.  Alec is still learning to be gentle and quiet with them-he really does love the cats, he just doesn't understand that they don't want toys placed on top of their heads, don't like to be shouted at (although he gets really good laughs out of startling them with loud noises) and like to have their space.  We'll keep working on that....

Vet visit

Making Tikka talk - part of Alec's morning routine

Tonight we are adding another animal (make that two) to our household.  As a reward for getting potty trained, Alec is going to get two gerbils this evening.  We are fairly uncertain about this, but can't back out of the plan now.  We promised Alec a long, long time ago that when he was potty trained he could get a mouse, a gerbil or some fish.  We were crossing our fingers that he'd go for the fish option, but alas....he wants a rodent.  The animal adventures continue!