So, Bear started his social language group on Friday and it was at least a moderate success. He seemed to catch on quickly and participated in a make-believe jungle safari, even contributing an imaginary tiger sighting (of course. Bear loves tigers. He was a tiger for halloween and he plays tigers at school every week, so this tiger safari thing was right up his alley.) At the end he had enough points for staying with the group that got to pick out a prize - a cheap, plastic, made-in-china-and-probably-covered-in-lead-paint toy cell phone. He ran out waving it excitedly, calling out "Mom, look what I got!" 

Before we left, the therapist mentioned how well he did and what a great imagination he has. It's true, his imagination is getting better all the time. He puts on his fire hat and rain boots (which look like cowboy boots, but he has now has decided will serve as fireman's boots because the boots are a very integral part of the costume, so therefore from now on he will only wear his old 2 sizes too small cowboy boots when he wears the cowboy hat - the new cowboy boots now being fireman boots, remember), and says "What's the problem, Mom?", to which I have to come up with an imaginary fire to put out or cat in a tree to rescue. He hangs a slinky off the back of his brother's pants and calls him a lion. In the past week, my kitchen broom has served as a dragon, a scarecrow, a snorkel, and a statue with a plastic cup on top serving as a top hat. 

So he held the toy phone all the way home and sat with it at the kitchen table while he had his snack. The moment his dad came home from work he went and got it to show him, with the same enthusiasm he had after he picked it out. He held it in the car all the way up to my parents house and back this weekend, and showed it to his grandparents. And for all that imagination he has, it never once occurred to him to pretend to make a phone call on it. One more toy for the "things I am attached to and carry around the house but never actually play with" pile.