Imitative Play FTW
March 08, 2010
I believe I have mentioned once or twice or seventeen dozen times that Ezra is not a big fan of "toys," particularly toys that are generally labeled as such or come from the toy store or contain no choking hazards or are anything that he did not retrieve himself from the garbage. So he's more or less content to wander around the house with empty paper towel tubes, Chinese food takeout receipts, and electrical outlet covers from God-knows-what outlet, but I bet it's one near some forks. Last week he carried around a Victoria's Secret coupon mailer that featured a woman's polka-dot-panty-clad ass for three days straight.
All that changed this weekend.
You know you have to special order blue or gender-neutral doll strollers? And pay twice as much for privilege? Or you can just grab the nearest $9.99 Pepto Bismol version at Target and watch your son lose his damn mind over it?
For hours. HOURS. "Bye!" he says cheerfully before heading off into the nearest wall with tremendous purpose.
He is not overly concerned with his baby's comfort, body placement, or species.
And sometimes whether they stay in the stroller for the entire ride is a meaningless detail. To his credit, though, if you point out that the stroller is empty he will run back through the house, shrieking "BABY! BABY!" before finding it in the dining room and roughly shoving it back in the stroller by its eyeballs.
Other passengers have included a variety of grimy naked baby dolls, a sippy cup, one of my shoes, and that aforementioned asstastic Victoria's Secret coupon mailer. I allow it. He's pretty damn attached.
We have been looking EVERYWHERE for a gender-nautral baby doll stroller and it makes me want to puke that they are all Bright! Pink! I think we'll just buckel and get the pink one because really, in the end, who cares.
So glad Ezra loves it so much!
"Forks." *giggle* Love it. Also, love pink strollers for the gentlemen. It'll put hair on his chest. =)
Our older son has never had any interest in babies - 0. Since birth, he has had a 6th sense if a child is older than he is and has ignored all younger. We have often said he would have been an ideal younger brother.
Our younger son, 2, is baby obsessed. He literally makes out with the baby from across the street. A friend's daughter left a baby doll over at our house and he loved it SO MUCH that we got a cast off one (complete with bed, pillow and teddy bear) that he religiously tucks in several times a day. Last night we were at some friends' house and he took their "baby" in the stroller all over the place. Perhaps it is a 2nd kid thing? I am glad one of my kids was struck by this baby love or I would have chalked up to gender differences vs. personality.
Our older son has never had any interest in babies - 0. Since birth, he has had a 6th sense if a child is older than he is and has ignored all younger. We have often said he would have been an ideal younger brother.
Our younger son, 2, is baby obsessed. He literally makes out with the baby from across the street. A friend's daughter left a baby doll over at our house and he loved it SO MUCH that we got a cast off one (complete with bed, pillow and teddy bear) that he religiously tucks in several times a day. Last night we were at some friends' house and he took their "baby" in the stroller all over the place. Perhaps it is a 2nd kid thing? I am glad one of my kids was struck by this baby love or I would have chalked up to gender differences vs. personality.
I bought the same stroller for my 18-month-old son because that's all Target had and I really don't care if he has pink stuff. But for some reason he gets PISSED if something dares ride in the stroller, though.
"...run back through the house, shrieking "BABY! BABY!" before finding it in the dining room and roughly shoving it back in the stroller by its eyeballs." hehe...this made me laugh out loud...and considering the morning I have had (freeway crash at 50 miles/hour; car totalled; blood on favorite Wacoal), that is something.
My 11-month-old is much more content with the response cards in magazine and grocery store receipts than she is any "toy" that can be found. When I picked her up from the Y daycare facility she had a receipt that had been left on the ground and was cleaning the shelves with it. Not sure what that says about my cleaning abilities.
Oh my god, what happened to your little baby? He's such a big kid now and since my son is only 3 months younger, that makes me even more sad.
probably the sweetest thing i've ever seen :)
Gender neutrality is so overrated.
I love that he's so attached to the Victoria's Secret catalog.
What a cutie!
Just one more way "they" are trying to gender our children. I say who cares if a boy wants to push a stroller around with a baby doll in it. He's most likely going to grow up to push a real stroller with a REAL baby in it anyway! Ugh. Sorry for the rant. I just hate that all the stores sell is blue for boys and pink for girls.
If you look around our house, you might assume that we just toss our trash on the floor, because Peeper's favorite toys are butter bowls, empty water bottles, a shoebox lid (Buster Brown - with a photo of a "baby" and a doggie!), papertowel tubes and the like.
So our Little Dude, who happens to be the same age as Ezra, has that exact stroller at daycare and is apparently obsessed with it. Must be a Libra thing...
OMG, too funny! I especially liked the 'BYE' part. BTW, I got Noah the BlaBla for Christmas on your recommendation from either Bounce Back or Advice Smackdown and he LOVES IT! Its his favorite thing ever. Blabla gets the crap beat out of him on a regular basis. Even my 3 year old loves it. She keeps stealing it from him so I broke down and got one for her that is being saved for a potty-traiing present. Cuz I'm eviil like that. Mwah-ha-ha!
I have a real question. How come your floors look so good? The hardwood in our kitchen wears so easily, and looks like crap as soon as the refinisher guy is loading up the harmful chemicals (that I love) into his truck.
What are your secrets for keeping it so nice?
Adorable! Whatever keeps 'em happy! Works for me. :-)
hilarious and adorable!
It really does suck that they don't have more gender neutral stuff (and I have a girl). But don't worry, attachment to the Victoria Secret catalog balances out the pink stroller! He looks so sweet in those pictures!
yes, mine just recently with the stuffed animals at 14 months. you know what works as well? the bed, bath & beyond coupons. mine love to play with those.
Jeeze, Sheilah, are you all right?!
Ezra is adorable no matter what he does. That kid is a doll.
For those of you that fear PINK!! for the boys I found a red and blue stroller at Build A Bear the other day. (http://www.buildabear.com/shop/productdetail.aspx?CallingPage=Shop%2fSearchResults.aspx&ProductSKU=14084. And it's only 12 bucks!
My 26 month old daughter still LOVES her baby doll stroller. It's sort of a teal colour, and I honestly found it in an alley behind a local church after they had a church sale of kiddo stuff. It looks a wee bit ghetto but was the first non pink stroller I'd seen so I fell in love. Megan pushes ANYTHING in it - baby dolls, teddy bear, Quatchi (2010 Olympic mascot), her child sized broom, mail, spatulas...anything. Best toy ever.
If I ran a toy company I would purposely create baby doll strollers in red and black and grey or something...none of this pink/blue perpetuation.
I got a blue stroller from Target. Maybe out in California we've got it going on.
Gabey also ADORES his pint-sized maya sling.
Cute!
My daughter has one of those strollers but refuses to put a doll in it. I tried to put her beloved singing teapot in there, but that was also rejected. She just wants to PUSH!
We were at the bookstore last weekend and there was a 3 or 4 year old boy in an umbrella stroller with his family. There was no one standing right behind the stroller and my daughter marched right up to it, reached as far as she could up the handles, and tried to push it.
It was simultaneously hilarious, awesome, and mortifying.
And apparently unable to spell/type as well. That would be "training" and "evil". I place the blame squarely on the lack of coffee due to having no water since Saturday.
Ezra looks awesomely adorable times infinity in sweatpants. BABY!!!! BABY!!! I need video.
OMG WHERE IS THE VIDEO???? This is the cutest thing I've seen all day.. aside from my own 7 month old doing the inchworm crawl, of course ;)
We have a pink stroller and two boys. It makes many public appearances. They LOVE that thing!
Maybe the fact that it's pink makes it all the cuter? No, it must be Ezra. :-)
OMG, how cute is he? You'd make my ovaries twinge if they hadn't already fulfilled their function recently. As it is, I'll just squee and look forward to the birth of my first in a few months.
Miss Grace, you may have a point with the California thing. I was going to hop on here and say that I could swear I saw blue strollers just the other day at Target. They were on the side of an endcap; blue was on one side of the aisle and pink was on the other.
I think it's a shame that pink is somehow forbidden to boys because it's such a jolly color. I love reading about the history of this gender assignment and how pink used to be considered too masculine for girls.
Ezra is the cutest but also wow your floors are clean and pretty...what do you use to make them gleamy like that?
My son is about the same age as Ezra and he would push a stroller all day long if given the chance!
My son held onto the Victoria's Secret Christmas catalog last year like it was made of gold. He'd thumb through it slowly, saying "Lady!" He has recently learned to say "boobies," so the next catalog may be even MORE popular!
My brothers (older and younger) both had baby dolls. My older brother had Lee, a rubber baby doll you could make pee if you gave him water, and my younger brother had Adam, a baby Cabbage Patch. Both were well and deeply loved. This is really cute.
That's awesome! My 2yo boy pushes around the toy grocery cart all the time. And god help everyone if he gets it stuck on something or it doesn't behave in the way he would like it too. Hell hath no fury like a 2 yo pretending to grocery shop!
Maclaren makes some gender-neutral doll strollers that Toys R Us carries (I got my daughter a navy blue one there). You can find them on their website (or you could--I just looked and of course I only see a pink one) but I got mine at a store (for like $29 but the one they are showing is $12.99. Huh). Check Amazon too.
Of course, this is moot now but in case he runs it into a wall and it doesn't recover or something... And assuming that you really care what color the damn thing is...
That's freakin' adorable. :) Put a smile on my face, which I desperately needed.
My newborn is finding it really hard to maintain a decent latch while I'm sitting here convulsing with laughter. Thanks A LOT.
My toddler has approximately 4,632 toys designed specifically for her age. None of them were bought by us. We learned our lesson long ago. She goes stark raving mad over canned goods, empty milk jugs, and any kind of box with a flap, though. Our house looks like a landfill. Shut up. It's for the children.
I bought a baby doll set once that was black and red - playyard, stroller and chair - for $20 at Safeway. Keep your eyes peeled, you never know when you'll see one!
He is so adorable! Now I want to run out to Target and get my 16 mo son a PINK stroller, too!
BTW, why is your house always so freaking neat?!! You really do have two boys, don't you? And a life? Right? So what's with all the cleanliness and neatness? It puts my house to shame!
My son hated all things doll-related. He would hurl stuffed animals at the wall and laugh manically. Then, at 18 months, we got him a little red wagon - suddenly he loved dolls, tigers and bears and really anything that could ride in the wagon.
They are funny little beings aren't they?
(BTW, Shay's favorite color for the first several years of his life was pink. Now at 16 and 6'2'' he prefers red and orange - much more manly.)
lol! My daughter would give rides in the stroller to cans of soup, kitchen utensils, soccer balls, pretty much anything BUT the dolly we provided for said purpose. Glad to see she's not alone.
This is one for teh rehearsal dinner. Even better if it's a shotgun wedding. ;)
Hey! What ever happened to the home makeover thingy you had going on? I didn't read all of the other comments but I remember you asking us for paint color suggestions and then said there was something reality tv/home makeover going on for the kitchen and then...nothing.
I still see yellow walls behind your gorgeous little guy!
It's pretty cool to watch your typically developing child after your not so typically developing child, isn't it? I feel like I walk around all day going, "OH! So THAT'S what they're supposed to do!"
Sweet. My 6-year-old son will still push a toy stroller around from time to time (baby completely optional). Anything with wheels is his thing.
I have been fretting because my 9 month old has no "lovey" and is not attached to anything in particular (besides his older brother, my boobs, and my husband...probably in that order...and none of them are suitable for taking to his crib with him at naptime/bedtime.) Who knew that I only had to join the VS mailing list?!!
We had a blue stroller. I think we got it at Toys-R-Us. But my son LOVED pink until the other boys hassled him so much he went undercover with it. Now he doesn't even want to admit to liking purple.
"To his credit, though, if you point out that the stroller is empty he will run back through the house, shrieking "BABY! BABY!" before finding it in the dining room and roughly shoving it back in the stroller by its eyeballs."
This has got to be the funniest sentence on the planet!! I've laughed so hard here at work that people walk by wondering what's up!
Video, please?
Hah! We got my 1 year old daughter a stroller and baby doll for Christmas, and though my 2 year old son had previously shown only disdain for baby dolls and such, he is now OBSESSED. We broke down and bought him that exact same stroller from Target (when we realized that the blue ones are impossible to find and expensive) that you have and a pink doll of his own (again, boy ones are rare and pricey). He is in love. IN LOVE. I don't get it.
I would LOVE to see a video of this! So precious!
We have a pink stroller too! My little boy, Evan, received it for his birthday because he kept swiping his friend Kate's. He LOVES it. His does have a tiny baby blue stripe that makes it a little less pink (yeah right...who am I kidding!).
That is so cute. And pink doesn't matter. My son developed an attachment for a baby doll that he named Jessica, and took EVERYWHERE. He was in Kindergarten before teasing from a friend made Jessica get stored away in a box.
My 19mo loves the stroller but is also very taken with toy shopping carts. We have a plastic one that makes gorgeous purple and yellow scuffs on the wall when cranked up to appropriate ramming speed. Nana bought a sweet miniature metal one that instantly transforms any slightly unsteady toddler into a drunk, muttering vagrant. I highly recommend it, just for the visual effect.
Super cute!
We got BubTar a Graco brand baby doll stroller that was navy for $9.99 from TRU when he was a tot.
Super cute!
We got BubTar a Graco brand baby doll stroller that was navy for $9.99 from TRU when he was a tot.
Since I'm at work, I had to try to silence my cracking up over the entire post. I failed.
Snackbox is currently weaving through mounds of age- and gender- appropriate toys carrying a water bottle full of mardi gras beads, my hairbrush, and a plastic wrapped maxi pad (he LOVES the crinkly sound it makes).
Go Ez! Pink schmink, little guy.
We got my daughter a cheap-arse $4.95 plastic lawnmower when she was around 12 months (& could walk without leaning on it too heavily thus causing her to overbalance & face-plant due to its poorly designed and thus horribly unsafe nature). She is nearly 2.5 & it still gets a DAILY workout. She has tried but learned that the baby doesn't stay on top too well & he is usually cast aside (by his eyeballs!)
THANKS, AMY. You just made my ovaries explode. I'm laying eggs like a goddamned chicken over here.
My boyfriend is going to want to have a word with you, FYI. Previously, he thought the baby-shoe aisle at Target was the only thing that could make me spontaneously ovulate.
Just because that ass is clad in polka dots doesn't mean it's not tired. JEEZ.
I have a girl baby and I am so sick of pink that I am considering ordering a blue stroller online. But now I have to get her a stroller because she would lose her mind with joy.
Well, the last thing you need is another comment. But I cannot help it...that was probably the cleverest, funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time. Genius, so well done! I mean, my sides hurt from laughing. And excessively cute too!
Thank you!
He needs a BILIBO - the ultimate not-toy, kinda like a cardboard box only curvy and plastic. I think all kids need one. My six year old loves hers - chair, rocker, sled, dollhouse, mask. Now you have to google it to see what it is! (I can't really explain it anyway)
That's so friggin' cute! I don't get the pink thing either. I have 2 boys, but I'm sure there are girls out there who might want a green or *gasp* blue stroller. Although, since nothing in our house is pink when we visit friends who have a 3 year old girl, my 2 year old boy runs straight to her room to play with all the pink sparkly toys. I love it!
Totally LOVING those long, purposeful strides.
To cute and too funny. I love your blog & your stories about your family.
This entry just caused an uncomfortable laugh out loud in the office when meant to be looking at v boring excel spreadsheets moment.
“Bye” she says and purposefully walks into a wall.
I live in a town where the majority of mothers and children walk to where they are going, so strollers are a pretty big fact of life. I love when I see a mom (or dad) coming down my street with one baby in the stroller and and older brother or sister pushing a toy stroller. So cute.
Though not nearly as cute as when I see mamas with babies in the sling and a 2-3 year old boy with a baby doll in a tiny sling. Seriously my heart jumps into my throat it is the cutest thing EVER. i just think, RIGHT ON KID!!
And gosh, I hope the car crash lady is ok!?!? geez!
When Sean was 3 he picked out pink rain boots and wore them all winter and spring - they had blue and black at the store, but he wanted the pink. When he overheard a 5-year old at the pre-school say he must be a girl since he was wearing pink books, Sean very seriously explained to him that the color of the boots wasn't what made you a boy, having a penis made you a boy. "I have a penis, so I'm a boy, the color of boots doesn't matter," was his conclusion, much to the horrified amusement of the pre-school teachers.
We got my daughter a mini Graco stroller from Target or Walmart. It's like a big person stroller- sunshade, basket, baby carrier/seat that pops in and out of it, and it's green plaid. My 2 yr old son likes to run thru the apt. doing wheelies with it....
My son's favorite things now are cars and dolls. All day, "baby! Big car!" We tried getting him his own doll, a baseball player, but he only wants his sister's pink dolls. So everywhere we go he takes a baby.
At least with no girls in the house you don't have this happen: he is also obsessed with all shoes. Including the tiny princess heels my daughter got for Christmas. You haven't lived until you've seen your 20-month son toddling around in pink heels.
Well, some of those Victoria's Secret models DO look pretty young. Maybe they belong in a stroller...
We ended up with two strollers - one for the house, one for the car. My kid gave up her stroller as soon as she could walk, so I let her push her baby around the stores while I shopped. Made her easier to dfins and slower to chase. Plus, the extra came in handy for play dates (and still does...)
Too damn cute! And to hell with the pink for girls, blue for boys thing. This is a story on Slate about how it used to be the other way around:
http://www.slate.com/id/2245052/
launch the slideshow, it's interesting stuff!
Hahahaha - Thanks for the laugh! We bought our daughter an equally inexpensive doll stroller and she went BANANAS!
The first time she saw it, was at one of my friends house were our daughters shrieked over it the whole afternoon! My friend just remarked that they seem to have an equally bad taste in toys... (Because the stroller was so cheap and really not well made and all the expensive wooden toys never get that much attention...)
Anyway, I find Ezra adorable playing with his pink stroller. Just make sure you never invite a little girl over for a playdate...
OMG, that was cute.
This might be my favourite post ever.
So funny!
My girl is still pushing her stroller around the house at age 3. Now she loads it with as many stuffed animals as she can cram in there and still securely buckle them in. The buckling part came later. I think the above commenter may be right about it being a Libra thing - she's an October baby.
I bought the same stroller for our toddler (boy) for Christmas. It's his favorite thing ever. Too funny.
Crazy. I just posted today about Wombat driving his sock frog all over the damn house in his GENDER APPROPRIATE stroller.
Have you tried him with a little toy kitchen yet? :D
Oh, he's cute. Golly.
I mean, if you go for that kinda thing.
Oh, he's cute. Golly.
I mean, if you go for that kinda thing.
I know you probably get this comment a jillion times a week, but I have to say it - I cannot get over the similarity between Ez and the image of you at the top of the blog! It's like you CLONED yourself as a toddler!
Nathan (my middle one) had a doll stroller I paid like $2.00 for at Goodwill when he was little, and it was pink. He grabbed it during a shopping trip and wouldn't let it go. Once we got it home, he filled it up with Bionicles and pushed it all over the house. For HOURS. Whatever keeps them from coloring on the walls with Sharpies, that's what I say! ;0