Is it strange?

I was carrying in the groceries the other day and when I finished I couldn't find Elijah anywhere. I was starting to freak out because the door had been open off and on when I was taking each load of groceries into the house and I feared he might have snuck out the front door when I wasn't looking.

I raced around the yard...nothing. I scrutinized all the rooms and closets...not there. Finally, I heard Joni, our little pug dog, running around in the laundry room. "Ahhhh, he is in there playing with Joni", I thought. (Elijah has recently grown tall enough to open and shut doors himself, which as every parent knows, moves up the level of security required to keep him out of trouble.) I hadn't really considered that he might have opened the laundry room door, walked in and shut the door behind him.

When I opened the door to the laundry room, however, I still couldn't see him! Joni burst out and ran into the living room, but Elijah wasn't in there. Now, I started to get worried. Joni was running all over the house a bit too enthusiastically and I was worried she was going to pounce on Joaquin, who was laying on the play mat in the middle of the living room floor,

so I decided it would be best to put her in her crate till I could find Elijah.

I carried Joni back into the laundry room to put her in her "house", when low and behold, guess who I found?

Is it strange that my 18 month old son likes to hide himself in a doggy crate? I have to admit, it kinda worries me to see him locked up in a cage like that, but apparently he loves it!

I remember how much fun it was as a kid to make forts and build secret hiding places behind pillows, so maybe he feels safe and hidden in there. Who knows!?! (But, just walking up upon your kid in a miniature jail cell still kinda freaks you out.)