Chooby

Colin has his first imaginary friend. He came up to me this weekend to show me a funny face. He puffed out his cheeks and puckered his lips. "That's funny," I said, "where did you learn that?" and he said "Chooby" (say "chew - bee"). Since then we've learned a lot about Chooby. He is sometimes very small and can fit in the palm of Colin's hand, but sometimes he is "big like Daddy." He is a boy and sleeps under Colin's crib. Sometimes he is a person and sometimes he's a "cow-person-animal." He likes the same things Colin likes: pizza, juice, jumping on the trampoline, chocolate cake, and playing in the sandbox. We are excited to add a new imaginary friend to a family legacy of imaginary friends.

Roxcy started out with one special friend, Crystal, but the list quickly grew to include Donno, Cheesy, Cuppa, Chippa and whatever Disney characters she wanted to include for the day. They were an unruly bunch, they needed limits. Only one was allowed to come with us on outings (do you know how long it takes to buckle up 12 imaginary friends?) and there was only room for one at the table and maybe two in her bed. She was obsessed with her friends and all things imaginary for that matter.

Jonah came into the world of imaginary friends a little later on. His cousin, James, introduced him to Dobie (dough-bee). I never could get my finger on what or who Dobie was, but he came up every so often. At different times he was a dinosaur, little boy, or bird. For awhile Jonah had a parrot friend that sat on his shoulder and a tricycle friend called "Tricycle." Roxcy's friends served a definite purpose, they were companions, an outlet for imagination and creativity and sometimes great scapegoats. I think Jonah liked having imaginary friends because other people did. Colin seems to think it's all great fun. He answers our questions and tells us about Chooby as if it's all a secret game we're all in on.