allie the gator

so the puppet show business has really gotten out of hand. it began with a few short shows from behind sailor's sofa, and has escalated into some kind of all day urgent need. sunny demands puppet shows from me constantly, even when it's just him and sailor and me. and he's become...umm... attached in some hard to describe way to this green alligator puppet. kim and juli named it (i am still really uncertain about the sex) allie (as in alli gator), and sunny wants its company constantly. i mean, ALL THE TIME. he tells it all about all of the toys in his room, his day, his family... he woke up this morning and instead of saying, "good morning, mommy. i had a nice nap," with a kiss and a cuddle (which, pleasantly, is how many of our mornings begin these days), he said, without preamble, "I WANT ALLIE." and when i obediently went to get it, he said, "good morning, allie. i had a nice nap." i've been replaced by a inanimate object!!
and there's this strange dichotomy, because he knows that allie is on our hands ( jon and i both take turns being allie; it doesn't seem to bother him) (he will say, "put allie on your hand now"); and yet somehow in his mind allie is a separate entity. he told maria that allie is his friend.
and i had to MAKE IT LUNCH. on it's own plate. with food identical to sunny's.
it's like an imaginary friend gone out of control. i wouldn't mind if it was just an imaginary friend, but this is an imaginary friend that involves considerable time and effort on our parts. and try to manage a nine month old who's recently discovered mobility with one hand! (because the other is sweating away inside a puppet.
so allie takes lots of naps, much to sunny's dismay. alligators need their rest, you know. and mommies and daddies, too!!
i'm strangely fascinated to see where all of this leads. it could just be a brief phase... or it could evolve into something new. or allie could just... wander back down into the swamp and... um... take a nice long vacation. permanently.
nah, i'm not that mean. ;)