Boys and Dolls

Aden (5 years)

Aden loves taking care of his baby. And he really does a great job of it too. He feeds her breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He puts her down for naps, tucks her in at night, changes her diapers, and pushes her around in the stroller.
Some of my favorite related quotes:

"Mama, I put my baby down for her nap so can you be a little more quiet?" 

"My baby is almost done with her breakfast and then Lulu (Elizabeth) can use the highchair." (Never-mind that the real-live baby in the house is fussing because she's ready for some food!)

"When I'm gone will you put my baby down for a nap when you put Lulu down for her nap?" (And of course, I totally forgot...what an awful babysitter I am...and you should have seen the look of disappointment on his face when he got home and saw that his sister was sound asleep and his baby was wide awake, never having been put down for her nap!)

"I'm not a daddy, I'm a mommy!"
(in response to me telling Aden that he was "such a good Daddy")


Anyway, a couple of nights ago long after the kids had gone to bed I walked into our bedroom in search of my laundry basket and saw these two babies (one is Aden's, one is Jonathan's) tucked into their "cradle" for the night. Notice the care he took to provide a padded surface for his baby. (So THAT'S where the sofa pillows went!) He's such a sweet, tender-hearted boy and I love him so very much! He really will make a good daddy some day!

UPDATE** A few days after I posted this Aden announced that he wanted to bring his baby to preschool for show and tell. He proudly carried his baby out to the car that morning all the while I was fretting over how his classmates (the boys in particular) would respond. It turns out, ALL preschool age boys play with dolls! Ms. Connie laughed at me and said, "Are you kidding, they all (the boys included) fight over who gets to push the dollies around in the stroller!" Phew...I was preparing myself for one sad little boy upon pick-up b/c I figured he'd get teased. I'm glad to know that sweet innocence CAN still be found among 4 and 5-year olds!