Chipmunkey

Today was the first time I've witnessed Shaun playing interactively with another child who is, essentially, a stranger. We went to the park after dinner and there was another little boy there who looked to be about 4 or so. Shaun was shy at first but they quickly hit it off and Shaun shared some of his apple slices with the little boy. Then they went off running together, chatting about how scary the slide is.

Shaun returned about 5 minutes later with his cheeks stuffed full of apple. I said to him that he should swallow his food because his new friend wouldn't be able to understand him if his mouth was full - not to mention, it's rude! But he explained to me that his cheeks were full because he was pretending to be a chipmunk. The little boy's chipmunk. Apparently he was a baby chipmunk named, get this, Chipmunkey. Genious!

It was just so neat watching the two of them talking with one another and designing this whole game all on their own. I've never been able to see Shaun play with another child like this, although I'm told he does it at preschool all the time.

The only downside was I have NO idea where this little guy's mother was. There were maybe a half dozen families at the park but this little guy never checked in with his mom so I never got to catch a glimpse of her. Potentially, Shaun and this little guy could be in the same class in September so it's too bad that I don't know who he belongs to. I'll have to head back to the same park over the next few nice days and hope they return.