The Gang

I arrived home to a quiet house today. Natalia had not yet arrived home with Andres and Celia, and I admit I was looking forward to peace and quiet for a few minutes before the chaos--er, I mean happiness--that would accompany their return.

I had time to put my bag down and grab a handful of chips before there was a knock at the door. Greeting me were Sean and Jasmine, our next door and next-next-door neighbors, asking if Andres was home. I must emphasize that this happened a full 90 seconds after I arrived home, meaning that they must have been waiting for a car to pull into the driveway so that they could ask if Andres could play.

I said no and sent them away, somewhat more gruffly than I had intended.

Upon reflection, though, I thought this was pretty cool. And it was a turning point of sorts, another sign that my little boy is actually getting to be a Big Boy with friends and a personality all his own. Andres has always loved Jasmine and Sean--he looks up to them (literally and figuratively), wants to do everything with them, and gets jealous of them from time to time. If he hears their voices through the window at night he does not want to go to bed; if they are riding bikes along the street he runs outside and tries to join them.

But until recently--a couple weeks ago, I think--they would not actively seek Andres out as a play partner. If he was outside already, and they were outside too, then they would play together; trips over to our house to see if Andres was actually available were pretty rare.

The past few weeks have been different though. As he nears his third birthday (Wednesday!) he is becoming a more integral part of the neighborhood gang, and his presence is not just requested but required for the gang to function properly.

This is all a way of explaining how I found myself, at 6:00pm today, in a kitchen with a baby (mine), a toodler (mine), a 5-year old (not mine), and a 9-year old (again, not mine) who were making chocolate chip cookies, burritos, pies and pancakes out of Play-Doh. (In all fairness, the baby was not part of this--I was feeding her a gigantic dinner at the time. Though I fear for my sanity in two years time when she becomes a desired gang member as well.)

Despite their age differences, the three play together well. And they seem to understand each other too, even though Sean and Jasmine can both speak much more fluently than Andres. I wonder if his newfound popularity is related, in some way, to his growing language skills...perhaps he is fluent enough that the other two can finally understand what he is saying, and so they deem him more interesting to play with. (Misunderstandings still occur though--Jasmine told me today, "Andres is just repeating everything I say." Me: "He's trying to be funny!" Jasmine didn't quite get how that was funny.)

They spent about half an hour making, "baking," and then eating their Play-Doh creations. The space underneath my china hutch was designated "the oven", and Andres' light-up turtle was placed next to it...I gather it was some sort of heat source. They ate their dinner--again, chocolate chip cookies, burritos, pies and pancakes--al fresco on my deck.

And then it was over. People had to eat for real, and other people (mine) had to take baths. Until tomorrow.