Last weekend we took a trip to the Cleveland Metroparks Rainforest with our friends Beth and Dwayne and their two little ones, Riley and Lilah (or as Dom calls them, “Wiley and Ya-ya”). As an aside, the Rainforest is fantastic for older toddlers. Everything is easily accessible and open, and it only takes about an hour to get through—perfect for short attention spans, but I digress.
Kerry and I were a little nervous to unleash Dominic on Riley. Dom is firmly entrenched in his “My Phase,” and while he’s starting to understand the concept of sharing, he still has some work to do before being released into the general population.
Just to be clear, we were nervous for Dominic, not Riley. Riley is six months older, two feet taller, and able to execute a technically-sound, UFC-style rear naked choke (good parenting, Dwayne). I put my money on Dom stealing a toy, being violently taken to the ground, and then tapping out within 37 seconds of Riley entering our front door. I could not have been more wrong.
At the Rainforest, Riley and Dom pointed out animals together and engaged in thoughtful dialogue like:
Riley: Dat monkey!
Dom: I see monkey too. See ‘im?
Riley: Yeah! Dat monkey!
Dom: See ‘im?
Repeat endless loop until forever
Back at our house Dom and Riley sat together and read through a pop-up book:
Dom: Dat elephant!
Riley: Yeah!
Dom: Dat giraffe!
Riley: Yeah!
And who would have thunk it? They also had a mutual appreciation for pizza and the movie Cars.
I was pretty sure that Dominic just made his first friend. However, my suspicions were confirmed after Riley got a time-out for some minor infraction or another. Here is the actual conversation I had with my son:
Dom: I wan go see Riley.
Me: Riley is in time-out, buddy. He’ll be out soon.
Dom (pointing towards Riley): I wan go dat way.
Me: I know buddy, but Riley is in time-out.
Dom ignores me, runs and grabs two plastic animals, then proceeds to sprint in between my legs
Me: Dom, come back here, Riley is in time-out.
Dom: (handing Riley a Hippopotamus): Daddy, I wan be in time-out too.
Two and a half year’s old, and my kid is already harboring a fugitive. I’m not looking forward to when Riley gets his driver’s license.
Tagged with: Rainforest • sharing • todder friends