Is this Pretend?

The last two weeks or so R has been doing this thing where she "pretends" one of Mommy or Daddy or herself is someone else she knows. We spent most of this past weekend where I was JW (my brother, R's uncle), mommy was C (R's aunt), and she was Little Frog (her cousin). She repeatedly would point to me and say "That's (JW)!" Even when on the webcam with Grammy and Grampy, she would answer "What's your name?" with "(Little Frog)!" Of course there were plenty of times when she was R again and I was daddy. Especially when she did not want me doing something: "No Daddy! Don't touch that! Don't sit there!" She also likes to tell the cats "Don't eat my shoe!" One morning she even decided that I was Gi Gi and S was Pop pop.

I think these games of the imagination extend to her phony reactions to some foods or events. She likes to tell us that all kinds of food are "spicy." She also tells us that Daddy or the cats or some truck noise outside are "scary." While we sometimes play along with our alter-egos, we've been trying to nip the latter in the bud. No, that tomato is not spicy, and daddy is not scary, even if he is a little scruffy-looking.

Finally, she has shown a renewed interest in playing pretend with her toys. Just the other day she was giving her camel a drink - amidst a conversation with her new camel companion - another gift from our friend H in Dubai. Also, lately, at night and at naptime after we've laid her down it has been routine to hear her talking, singing, and having little conversations with her dolls.

I don't think it'll be long before R is telling her own bedtime stories to us. I can't wait to hear what she comes up with - beyond the one about Cinderella - a little girl who had a daddy - "AND A MOMMY!"