Most Kids Have Imaginary Friends...

... but my son has imaginary multiple personalities. Witness:

Our bathroom downstairs here at the Middle House has mirrors on three walls. Yes, three. So when you go to wash your hands, you can see images of yourself stretching far, far away. Iain loves this.

"Hello all da Iains!" he says, grinning. Sometimes he'll add, "Hello, all da Mamas," but mostly, it's just the Iains that get noticed. Then he continues.

"C'mon, all da Iains, let's go get a snack. All da Iains want a snack, Mama." So Mama gets the one Iain a snack (what can I say? I like him best.). My favorite Iain climbs into an empty chair, and says, "Here, all da Iains, you can sit dere and dere and dere." He points to any other chairs. Then he shares his snack. "Here, all da Iains, you can have a snack. You can have some chex mix." Passes it around. Yes, he literally puts a piece of chex mix in front of every empty chair. Then all the Iains eat their snack. My favorite Iain doesn't eat the snack in front of the other Iains. He just asks for more when the snack in front of him is empty. It wouldn't be nice to steal the other Iains' snacks, now would it?

And then: "Mama, all da Iains want to watch a movie. C'mon, all da Iains, it's movie time." And they all trundle down the hall and sit on the couch, waiting expectantly.

Nona, the other day, asked Iain how many Iains there were.

"Lots and lots of Iains!" he shouted back.

Yikes.