Dress Up for the Little Brother

When the Peanut turned two, my mom made a very impressive dress up box for the Peanut's birthday present. So this past June (ahem), when the little brother turned two, my mom required herself to follow suit in making him his very own dress box. Never mind the fact that the Peanut didn't really start using her dress up box (aside from the gaudy jewelry!) until about 18 months later--when she was about 3 1/2.

I told my mom as much when she was frantically trying to get his dress up box done just before his birthday, "Mom, Peanut didn't use the dress up stuff until she was nearly 4.  You've got some time...."  Her response should have been expected.  "Peanut got hers when she turned two.  He will get his when he turns two."

Well, okay then.  

Just as Peanut's dress up box was fit for a girl, his is just as masculine as her's is girly.  My mom stained his in a nice dark finish, very much like the finish on his furniture she refinished for him when I was pregnant with him.  She was going for a treasure chest look--which worked out well for this mama.  We ended up using the chest for the treasure hunt at the Peanut's pirate party in September!

And in the end, I guess the surprise is on me. I didn't account for the older sibling factor.  Peanut is there to show him the ropes in the art of all things dress up and make-believe.  She takes her role as teacher very seriously.  And he takes his role as apprentice even more seriously.  He can "fight a fire" like nobody's business.  He hammers away on things with the force of a grown man and he can give a patient "a shot" without a thought to their pain.

Yes, he definitely needs to work on his bedside manner, but he is all boy.  Indeed.