Abby, Minnie and Daisy-Mouse

Abby is very much like her Daddy.  She looks like him, she thinks like him, she acts like him.  Basically, she is a mini-Dan, just in the female version.  Often times this leads to the two bashing heads (I call them my two rams) but often this leads to them feeding off each other and it's quite funny. 

There's not much she got from me, except for her creativity.  Dan is missing this gene.  I, however, am quite creative and theatrical.  Abby is also quite imaginative.  But, back to me for a minute.  My brother and sister weren't born until I was 8 and 10, and it was just Mom and I until I was 6.  So I had to use my imagination a lot.  I never had an imaginary friend, but I did become one.  I had an old wooden step stool that I would put on my back, then crawl around the house on my hands and knees pretending to be a cat.  My name was Snowball.  When the step stool was on my back, I would only purr.  I rubbed my back on furniture and drank water from a bowl on the floor.  (I never really thought it was all that strange until I started typing this.  Oh well..  Full disclosure.)  This cat routine went on until I was 7 or so. 

So, on to Abby.  She's at that "imaginary friend" age, but just like her Momma, she's doing it with a twist.  Abby's imaginary friends are babies.  There's anywhere from one to three of them depending on the day (Abby, Minnie and Daisy-Mouse).  The twist?  They are in her belly.

Yep.  My daughter has imaginary babies in her belly.  They talk to her and kick her.  They even have food preferences.  (they don't like mexican pasta or pineapples or whatever else Abby doesn't want to eat)  She talks at length about how long they are going to be growing there and when they will be coming out.  She loves to talk about how she'll take care of them when they are out as well.*

While I don't necessarily encourage all this, I do ask her questions and talk to her about her babies when she brings them up.  I feel it's key to feed this imaginative play.  Though, it's a little strange when Abby tells random people at the grocery store and Target that Austin is my baby and her babies are still in her belly.  (Austin's smiles stop people in the aisles and they usually ask Abby about "her baby")

It's not the most conventional of imaginary friends, but then again her Mommy was a cat.

*My psycho-analysis says this ultimately why these babies are around.  Abby sees me taking care of Austin, and feeling left out, wants to take care of someone too.  She wants to help so bad, but is just too young to care for Austin.  She'll take care of "her babies" instead.
** I would also like to point out that a number of Abby's school friends and one of her favorite teachers are pregnant.  I assume that has also triggered all of this lately.