Oh-Bla-Di

Lots of kids share their childhoods with imaginary friends.  Ava always had a few rattling around in her imaginary world, but no permanent friends.  Noah, however, has a very lively imaginary cohort beginning to take shape and, wowzers, it’s awesome.

To understand his imaginary world, one must first understand that our boy is obsessed with baseball.

He sleeps in his baseball cap, wakes up in the morning wanting to go out to play, sits still for inning after inning on TV and in real life (no three-year-old does this!), demands a catch with a parent every chance he can.  It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that he not only has an imaginary friend, but that he has a whole team of “baseball men” to keep him company during the day.  These baseball men sleep in his room, keep him company at the lunch table, and generally bring joy to his life. The pitcher is named “Bubbles” and the catcher goes by “Strike 2.” There are a few other named players, but their titles are such gibberish that I can’t transliterate them yet.

In a dream earlier this week, Bubbles and Heater (the mascot from our local AA team) were up to some mischief on the ball field that Noah described in such a detailed, descriptive way that it was impossible not to be caught up in his story. Never mind that following the logic of three-year-old storytelling is nearly impossible.

Noah & Heater having a chat at a Dragons game.

In another of Noah’s baseball men stories, the team had wings and flew around the baseball field. I think he’s going to love both Field of Dreams and Angels in the Outfield when he is older.

Love that our little guy has found something that makes him happy. Delighted that the thing that makes him happy is something we love too. Here’s hoping that Bubbles and the gang are here to stay!