Mr. Potato Head

My brother Nick is who we call our "Special Ed Boy". After contracting Leukemia when he was almost three (he has been in remission for 12 years), he came away with significant brain damage. As such, he has remained literally "like a little child". Not only is he a tremendous example to me, he is remarkably similar to Everett in many small ways.

They both say No when they actually do want something; they both get fixated on a movie, toy, or book; they both love to express their affection for their mothers (!); and sometimes trying to find out what they want is an interesting dilemma. Also, it helps very much if you ask simple questions if you really do want them to be able to answer you. And if they are bored, what do they do? They go yell/grab/do anything to get their mother's attention. All day long, if they haven't been paid attention to.

But, this also means that a lot of by brother's toys are interesting to Everett, as well. Everett knows that if he wants to play when we are at Grandma's house, we go up to Uncle Nick's room and browse the toys there.

I was surprised to see that Everett immediately took to the Mr. Potato Head toy, even moreso than the cars and trucks! He loved putting the features on the little potato and wanted to play it as often as we would let him. It was fun to watch, and it made me think that I should get one for him. I decided against it, though, because that will make the toy more fun when we visit my parents.

But, mostly it was fun to see Everett and my brother playing with the same toys and being interested in the same things (Curious George, anyone? How about Thomas the Tank Engine?).