Imaginary Friends

We're not sure, but we think Josiah has an imaginary friend. Either that or he is having hallucinations. :-) The last month or so he randomly will start talking about The Monkey, and not a monkey, "Da (the) Monkey" (as Josiah would say it). It started when we went to a restaurant and he kept going on and on about a monkey. He would say, "Da monkey blah blah blah (words we can't understand).... Da monkey over der (there)! See da monkey!! ha ha!" We thought maybe there was a picture of one somewhere when we walked in, but we looked all around and never saw one. He would say something about the monkey and then laugh. We were so confused!!

Ever since then, out of the blue, he will just start talking about The Monkey. I'll ask him, "Where is the monkey?" And he'll start talking in words I don't understand and pointing in all different directions. One day he kept talking about it and pointing to the bottom of the stairs. I asked him to show me where it was. So we walked down the stairs and opened the door to the coat closet and he just said, "Oh! No monkey in der (there)!" and turned around and walked away.

We have lots of conversations about The Monkey... sometimes I think Justin is the monkey, but I'm not sure. The Monkey makes him laugh, and me laugh for that matter! I think his imagination is just beginning to run wild and that's fabulous! The innocence of children's imaginations and imaginary worlds and friends are what make childhood fun.

Maybe one day I'll see the monkey... in my delirium from lack of sleep, anything is possible. :-)