Liam was never really one for dolls. He didn't mind using them as pillows but really they had no other use for him... well, he also liked whipping them around. Joshua on the other hand needs to line up his "babies" in his bed. Some are invited on a given night, but not the next night. Others are never allowed into the bed in the first place, but rather need to stay in his toy box. My grandfather brought Joshua a Webkinz. Joshy has no idea it's a has-been trend with an on-line code. He just loves his fuzzy alligator. He doesn't even seem phased by the fact that his alligator is really a crocodile. The alligator and Joshua are now inseparable. It's all I can do to keep the alligator inside. He's taken it outside but then it ends up in the washing machine... and Joshua can't stand a night without his new BFF. The alligator even travels with him in his backpack for rest-time at the sitter's each day. Of course, you never know who Josh will be carrying around in his other arm- his mini-chipmunk (Liam has a matching), his Mickey Mouse, his kangaroo mom & baby, a rhino, a State Farm teddy bear, a carnival elephant... or maybe the whole gang hugged inside his two little arms.
Joshua's dolls make all sorts of great conversation too. They have opinions and insights. Some of them try to rule the world and others say in deep voices that they are superheros. Joshua has zoo animals that he lines up according to Mom & Baby. These animal families also have conversations- usually something like "Where is my mommy?" (high voice) "Come here Baby Zebra, I am your mommy!" He lines them up, marches them around the living room and then lines them back up again.
And there they would stay, lined up, were it not for my other son, Liam. When Liam was 3 years old, I often wondered why he didn't play act. I didn't understand it from a teacher's perspective because I kind of assumed that all children played pretend. I suppose Liam does play pretend but he certainly has a different style. See, the reason why Joshua's animals can never stay lined up, is because Liam's idea of play acting always involves a disastrous event of dynamic proportions. It always involves explosions and crashes and\earthquakes. The result is a sort of spiraling pattern of disaster with a certain epicenter and ripples of overturned, smashed into toys spreading out across the living room floor.
Now if Joshua was anyone other than Joshua, he would probably get very annoyed with his brother. Actually (now I'm being uber-articulate) if he were the older brother and Liam was the destructive younger brother, I'd bet he would get awfully miffed. But no, Joshua is so immune to his brother's idea of play-acting that he will just go along with it. Suddenly zoo animal babies are looking for their mommies with new fervor and the Webkinz alligator is coming to save the day.
Of course, Joshua doesn't just have dolls. He also has plenty of guys. Again, Liam was never into "guys". He got into Transformers but that was mostly because he got a kick out watching Bill and I turn the guy into an airplane and then turn the airplane into a guy and then turn the guy into an airplane and then turn the airplane into a guy and then turn the guy into an airplane and then turn the airplane into a guy and, well, you get the idea. After that initial kick, he would just forget about the Transformer or just use it to smash things. At any rate, Liam wasn't too into guys. But Josh? Is he ever. And he isn't really picky at all. A giraffe can have a conversation with Sully (from Monsters Inc) and then the Joker can come along in his Jokermobile and steal Yoda. But then motorcycle guy will come over with his friend Lightning McQueen and they will save the day with a little help from a crazy Koosh ball.
And so the two boys play. "I am the most powerfulest of all! I am Hot Lava Man!" and "I am Destructigon! I can smash into everything!" Here's an actual transcript of the boys playing tonight with an alligator and a guy on a motorcycle:
"Hey! There's a new person on the team just like me!" Liam the motorcycle man
"I look like a alligator." Joshy the alligator
"How much stones do you have?" Motorcycle man
High pitched voice- Liam speaking as alligator now "I have like 99 of them."
Liam now back as Motorcycle Man "Well, I have much more than that."
"Hey, you guys can be the leaders" Motorcycle Man
"Whoa." Unknown McDonalds figure guy, spoken for by Joshua
"And you and me have thousands!" Joshy as Sully and Unknown McDonalds figure guy #2
"You know infinity is more than a thousand?" Liam as Liam
"We have thousands of stones." Joshy as Sully and Guy #2
"You guys be the guards. We already have a leader. I'm the leader." Liam as Motorcycle Man, Guys #1 and #2 and then ... well I can't keep track anymore.
"I have two weapons" Liam forgets about the guys and picks up two squishy light up balls with stretchy handles and starts flipping them around the room, both at once.
"And I have no weapons." Joshy in a deep voice.
And then there is a very in-depth discussion about who is the master and who is the master of the leaders or something like that. And then who can lift things into the air (at which time Joshua lifts up the camera and we lose visual).
So here's the thing, there's a definite compromise going on here. Left to his own devices, Joshua would never do anything except lining everyone up, marching them around and then lining them back again. And left to his own devices, Liam would never do anything except knock all of his toys around the room. What would be the fun in any of that? Being Master of the Universe isn't really fun at all, unless you can get into a contest of strength with the Most Powerful Superhero of All.
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