The Peaceable Kingdom

Cailan has a lot of stuffed animals, a really big pile of them. He's been into playing with them lately. He especially likes to play on mommy and daddy's bed, which is easy right now since we still don't have a bed frame, so he brings his animals from his bedroom into ours, one or two at a time.

A few days ago, every time he brought one in, he would say something like "The frog is very happy to see his friend the plaid bear. He is going to give the bear a kiss." Then he would line the two animals up and bump their faces together for a quick smooch. And after that, another pair of animals. "The penguin is happy to see his friend the guinea pig. He is going to give the guinea pig a kiss." I thought this game was very sweet.

Today he made a nature center on the bed. He lined up the animals in two long rows and fenced them in with pillows. Then he and I looked at all the animals in the nature center. He played a different game with Chris, though. Cailan had brought in a stuffed elephant and a plastic frog and was holding them face to face. Chris asked if they were friends, and if they were talking to each other. Cailan said, "No, the frog will be the elephant's snack. CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!"