My Breastfeeding Toddler

Joey spends most of his morning following me around the house while I do various tasks. He rarely sits down or stays in one place for longer than three and a half seconds. Until 10am, when I give him a snack and turn on his favorite show of the moment: Sesame Street. Then he actually sits and watches. But the rest of the time between breakfast and lunch is usually taken up by him bouncing from room to room, often doing silly things, making me laugh, and talking my ear off.

Yesterday as I was folding laundry in my bedroom, in comes Joey. I noticed right away that his shirt was all crooked, but didn't pay much attention to it. He caught my attention though when he turned around and there was a Fisher-Price Little Person figurine trapped between his body and his stretched out shirt. So I inquired about what he was doing. His response? "My feed gurl mommy. My feed gurl baby milk."

I had to conceal my amusement, as I didn't want to squash his enthusiasm for this innocent role play. I was actually kind of proud, because it was obvious that Joey is paying close attention to the world around him, and mimicking the behaviors that he is observing. But I did make sure to have a discussion that involved me explaining to him that only mommies make baby milk, and boys can't be mommies. Now I am having visions of my darling child in preschool tearing his shirt off to expose his nipple and sit down to nurse the baby doll.