My 5yo really likes to copy the way other children talk and behave. He pickes the ones who talk differently from him (like have a speech impediment or talk in a really girly voice) and spends hours taking like them.
It annoys me to no end for some reason and I cannot stop myself from showing it. Like today I spent several hours with him talking in unnaturally high voice pronouncing his r's as w's and sucking his thumb. He explained he is copying X because he likes it. I ended up telling him off several times, and we are all having very unpleasant time because of this.
Since this started a few months ago, I'd say he spends half his time being someone else. I am really at a loss how to react to it and started wondering if it is just a phase or something pathological requiring perhaps professional attention? Does someone else's child behave in a similar way?