The Experiment is not over yet…

Just when I thought all hope of Toby playing with a doll was lost; he surprised me by rediscovering her. All of a sudden today, amid his play with Thomas the Tank Engine and has various other cars and trucks, he knelt down to get something out of his toy chest and discovered a BABY in there!

He scooped her up and promptly gave her a hug before poking his fingers in both of her eyes and pulling at her eyelashes. He then turned to me and matter of factly stated that she had a poopy bum and needed her diaper changed.

Off we went to the bedroom where Toby lovingly took her diaper off, wiped her bum REPEATEDLY and then generously applied his cream to her. Realizing that every thorough bum change is followed by nap time, he frantically looked around and asked, “Where is her CRIB, mommy?” I quickly converted a basked in his room into an appropriate crib as Toby took the baby and sat in his rocking chair to read her bedtime stories.

About 5 stories in he came across a page of food items and this reminded him that maybe the baby was hungry. Off to the kitchen we ran to get her a bedtime snack. Of course, the baby needed a high chair. So mommy dug up an extra high chair and baby had a seat while Toby fed her “kibble”. (The kid spends too much time with my mother’s dog…)

Then it really WAS the baby’s bedtime so back to the bedroom he took her, shutting the door behind him. Rob and I sat at the kitchen counter baffled, listening to the sounds of Toby rocking and telling his baby stories. I think it’s the first time in 2 years that we haven't had to be right beside him while he played. About 5 minutes later his bedroom door opened and his little head poked out, “BABY NEEDS MILK!!!” Of course. What were we thinking?

We passed him a bottle of milk and back he went into his bedroom, precariously holding onto both his doll AND his milk, to resume his baby’s bedtime routine.

And so my experiment WAS a success. I can now proudly say (when asked the question that started this whole process in the first place) that yes, in fact, my son DOES play with dolls.