Most of Stevie’s breakthroughs in therapy over the years have been physical. Walking, running, pulling things apart, pointing, climbing. Those are the easiest milestones to identify and measure his development against. So while each one of these has been of the upmost importance, this one feels pretty major.

It didn’t take much. And it wasn’t like a WOW! moment that you catch on video. But we pulled out one of Stevie’s bigger trucks and he asked for a “boy” to sit in the front seat. He’s never referenced or cared at all about dolls or figurines so it caught me off guard. I dug around his toy box for a toy that would fit in this car and we took it from there.

From the info that I could gather, the doll’s name was boy and he was driving in the front seat to go eat fries.

Well, how delightful!

Over the course of the day, Boy also had a picnic, went swimming, and went to the beach. A couple car accidents along the way, and when Stevie needed a break, Boy would take a nap under the washcloth that also doubled as a picnic blanket and a beach towel.

I mean… what?!! Where did all of this come from? Imagination?  Pretend play?  So good!  I grinned from ear to ear as we sent Boy on all these adventures.

There were still a fair amount of meltdowns over the course of play, when Boy wasn’t sitting right, or fell down, or I said something totally stupid like “does Boy want face forward while he drives?” but this new territory was just exciting to see. His little brain working in a new way. I feel like it’s a huge step in the right direction.

Now someone please stop me from buying ALL THE DOLLS.

Well, I at least need to buy one that actually looks like a boy. And maybe a girl too, so we can work on gender recognition. And probably some new cars and a garage and a city to live in and some pets to take care of. You know, the basics to give them a decent life. Teehee!