Girl crazy

One night, our conversation started this way:
Mommy, I want Monkey to be a girl.

Monkey, if you haven't met it before, is my son's most treasured stuffed animal, the one that has been his favorite since infancy. Monkey occasionally served as my son's alter ego as well, so he has always been a boy. Until now.

Why? I asked
Because I want him to be my girlfriend.

Before that moment, that term had never entered my son's vocabulary.
Sure, there was the 2-year-old girl that used to strong-arm my boy and hug him till his face turned blue. But we never called her a girlfriend.

Slowly, the context for the new vocabulary word came out.

Christian (a boy at his school who is sometimes his best friend) has a girlfriend.
Oh, I see.

I paused.

So do you have a girlfriend?
Yes, Monkey!
No, I meant one at school.
Oh, yes.
And what is her name?
Alyssa.

I ponder this new milestone in my son's life then I hear him giggling, as he hugs Monkey.
Now I have two girlfriends. Now I have two girlfriends.

I might worry if he was about 11 years older. At the moment, I'm taking this as a new little experiment in playground relationships.