Boys will be Boys

Watching our children grow is so interesting and exciting.  Alex, at almost 6 years old, is probably the most exciting right now.  Having a big sister and then getting a little sister can be hard on having real boy-time.  He takes it like a tropper though and plays barbies, "mom and dad", school, and does crafts with the girls.  We sent Grace and Alex to Art Camp and he LOVED it.  He puts his own spin on any of those "girly" activities so I've seen Barbie drive a dump truck, he has put his Playmobile characters in a little playhouse and his art always has a destructive flare (one of his pieces of art from camp was a mouse and his girlfriend blowing up... I still giggle about that one!). 
Just this past week he spent the afternoon with a friend who also happens to have a big brother  (two boys in the family).  When I picked him up they were running and chasing eachother and then wresting eachother.  It looked like someone was going to get hurt but he was having the time of his life, laughing almost to the point of crying (reminded me of his daddy's great laugh) and then doing it over again.  It was just one of those moments where I wish he had a brother to do those things with at home... Alex's sisters very rarely wrestle with eachother for fun! 
Last night we had friends over for dinner and they have three children; one boy and then two girls.  Their son is a few years older than Alex but when we get them together, they have a great time with imaginary play - exactly what Alex loves.  Both of these boys have amazing imaginations and when Alex has the opportunity to play with him, he leaves with a whole new gammet of ideas!  Alex knows about Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lego Characters because of this friend.  At the end of the evening they had made a comic book of adventures - it was awesome to see Alex so proud of this story that he got to keep; his friend is such a nice boy!  Despite the fact that there are a lot of guns, exploding, and dangerous activities that I don't understand, it is a keeper!  Exactly what Alex needs and wants.  Boys will be boys and we are open to that.  He will have a healthy understanding of boy toys as he gets older and I'm not afraid that it will affect him negatively.  Ian and I will make sure of that.