Second Cousins Moving In!

If you've read previous posts you know about Aphia's imaginary friend Ellian that came over one night. But that is all she did, was come one night. Then she never came again. However for several weeks now we have had some other visitors who are frequenters at our house, playing with Aphia! They have practically moved in!

Their names are Hunter, Charlie, and Greta. Now if you are part of my mom's family, you know that these are actually my cousin Molly's children. They are great kids and Aphia got two chances in late July & August to play with them. She ADORES them. And now they are her new imaginary (kind of...) friends.

They have been making daily appearances at our house since Jonah has started being at school all day long. I put two and two together today when Aphia and I had this conversation in the car:
Aphia: "Mom, Hunter is old enough to be home alone, so if you and dad want to leave you can."
Me: "Oh really? (laughing, because that was darn cute!) He's old enough for that huh?"
Aphia: "Yep, he likes to come over and play and so do Charlie and Greta."
Me: "Yes, and you like to play with them too, don't you?"
Aphia: "Yep, I do. They always come over to play because Jonah goes to school all day."

It kind of broke my heart because she misses her older brother. But it makes me smile that she is creative and using her imagination in "playing with other kids."

Some of the recent, imaginary activities that Aphia has had with the three second cousins are:
*going to the movie theater to see Toy Story 2
*all three of them had birthdays (with a huge party that Aphia was at!) last Thursday
*at least one of them always travels in the car with us
*one or more are usually sitting at the table with us
*Aphia frequently talks or texts one of them on her play cell phone
*And if she is not doing something "with" them, she is telling me about them in one way or another, ie: things they do, like, say, play.

In 9 days we are going to Lamb's Resort on the north shore with my mom's whole family. I am PRAYING that Hunter, Charlie and Greta are there (or at least Greta- who Aphia actually plays with the most) so that she can have actual face-to-face play time with them!