Playmates

Out of the blue, Lucie has started to call Ryan "honey", and Ryan calls her "sweetie". They sound like an old married couple sometimes, gently chiding each other with, "Now Ryan, honey, you follow the rules" or "Don't be so funny, you silly goose!" Actually, it's mostly Lucie doing the ribbing, and Ryan following along cheerfully.

They're certainly not always this chummy, but when they hit a streak of playing well together (like their garbage collection services or Christmas morning reinactment here), I try not to interfere. I've found that if I say the slightest thing to them, the beautiful spell of getting along may be broken, and I hate to risk that.

When they're in this mode, they get completely absorbed in their game, with made-up, mutually understood rules and goals. Santa must come after all the loved ones are tucked in and the tea set is the first garbage we collect. Everyone magically knows their role and falls into place.

Mostly, they ignore me, but sometimes they'll call out with strange requests like, "Hey Mommy, can we have a Kleenex box? We're pretending we're sleeping and we might have some mucus." (How can you argue with that?) Other than these quick check-ins, they're totally absorbed in their own, imaginative, garbage-collecting and Santa-waiting world.