Gavin's Journey into Imagination

So, we've had a busy weekend, and I've already shared that with you. However, I left out one very important detail--we did not travel alone to any of our weekend stops. In fact, we had multiple "friends" accompanying us along the way. Gavin brought his imaginary friends "Woobster," "Carmine," and "McQueen" everywhere we went.

"Carmine" is a musical car from The Little Einsteins, and "McQueen" is obviously from Disney/Pixar's CARS. These two cars were along for the whole day Saturday. They were apparently on the train with us (according to Gavin they rode down by our feet). Gavin also had it in his mind that these two cars were often traveling around on the railroad tracks. We'd be walking near the tracks in downtown Charlotte, and he'd say "Daddy, I hear them...McQueen is coming. He's making noises--do you hear it?" Honestly, any down time we had (which was very little), Gavin filled in the gaps with discussions of his imaginary friends. Comical--yes. Ultimately tiring--yes, that too. Still, I love the level of thought he put into the actions of his imaginary friends. Most of the funny stories, however, involved his imaginary dog Woobster.

"Woobster" is Gavin's pet dog. According to Gavin, he "made him" last week, around the time that we went to Savannah, GA for Tim & Lauren's wedding. Steph and I have gotten into asking Gavin questions about his dog, and he's always obliged us with interesting and funny answers. For example, the other day Steph asked Gavin what color Woobster was, and Gavin replied, "he's red and orange" (incidentally, Gavin's current favorite colors).

Last night was definitely filled with humorous anecdotes involving Woobster. As we were driving home from the train station (after the basketball game) Gavin reminded me that Woobster was in the car, and he was sitting on the floor below Gavin's feet. The whole drive home was filled with Gavin telling me tidbits about Woobster's behavior...his likes and his dislikes. Here's a recap of my favorite exchange involving Woobster:

Gavin: Daddy, Woobster is in the car. He's laying right here (motions down to the floorboard).

Me: Oh, ok. He's still here with you.

Gavin: Yeah, he's here.

**pause...as he's thinking of a good story, I presume**

Gavin: Daddy, Woobster's going pee-pee.

Me: He's going pee-pee in the car. Oh, Gavin, that's not good. Woobster has to go potty in the grass just like the rest of the dogs.

Gavin: But he IS in the grass. He's over there going pee-pee by that tree--that tree right over there (motions to a tree just outside of the car--while we're driving). He's done going pee-pee. He's back in the car.

Me: Gavin, is his name "Woobster," or is it "WOOFster"?

Gavin: His name is Woobster, not Woofster.

Me: I thought maybe you called him Woofster since dogs like to go "woof."

Gavin: No. It's "Woobster." Woobster doesn't woof, he talks.

**I stand corrected. It seems that my son has a imaginary TALKING dog.**

Here's a picture of Gavin as he's holding Woobster's leash. He's holding the leash with his right hand, and pointing to Woobster with his left hand (so that you know where he's sitting). "Woobster is a great dog."

...good times.