I Will Love Him and Feed Him and Pet Him and Name Him George

So maybe it could be said that we're not animal people. Not that we don't like pets, we do and really, really want a dog. It's just that we're not really in a place right now to have them, and it is apparently affecting our son. After spending the weekend at the Aminal Kingdom, some of Toad's animal rescue instincts must have rubbed off on Reeves. He and I were outside "working" in the yard this afternoon, and the bulk of his duties consisted of picking up the huge seed pods that that plummett from the magnolia tree every day/night/minute/second. (Honestly, my hatred of them rivals my hatred of their cohabitating leaves because when these things get run over, they stain the concrete.) Most of them have already been scavenged by the squirrels, but every once in a while, one makes a break for it on its own. These suicide pods are usually young and soft, almost fuzzy, like, say, a kitten or puppy. After throwing several of the big prickly ones on the burn pile, Reeves came upon this precious little thing. He immediately started petting it. "Awwwww, how cute," I thought, expecting him to then toss it onto the pile. Nope. I turn around again to find my son sliding his seed pod down the slide, then having it climb itself up the steps to slide down again. The pictures and the story fall terribly short of truly depicting what happened. He would hold it up to his face and coo at it. He would show it to me and want me to pet it. So we brought it in and wrapped it up in its blanket. I guess we're getting to the "uses his imagination" stage.
Hmmm... Come to think of it, maybe it's not a pet he's after, but a little baby of his own. If that's the case, I am very encouraged to know that he gently played with it on the slide. Maybe there's hope for Bennett yet.