Baby

I took Ava with me to visit some good friends and their new baby in the hospital. I didn't realize what an impression it made on her until she started role-playing today. She has been putting a small stuffed cat under her shirt and pretending to be pregnant. Then she says she needs to go to the hospital, and once there (pretend of course) she pulls the cat out and oohs and aahs over it. Then she agonizes over a name, always choosing "Rudy." She cuddles the cat, wraps it in a blanket and occasionally nurses it. Then, she shows me the trophy her cat won for being "Best in the Nursery." I am not sure where that came from. She explains that her cat won the trophy because it "hardly ever cries" and because "it's a very good eater." I've been getting a kick out of this today!