Zeke's New Tricks

The munchkin is still getting over his cold. He is much much better, but for the second week we have skipped almost all contact with the outside world. I think his yucky nose would get us some negative reviews from the playgroup and Little Gym. He and I both miss other people. Still, he keeps busy.

Up until now, Zeke's main source of entertainment is to leave an entropic trail of disorder throughout the house. Everything must be taken from where it belongs and tossed somewhere else. Boxes must be overturned, puzzles tossed, trashcans knocked over, low tables cleared, and drawers emptied. (Oh, and pet bowls of food and water must be upset. Another milestone: Zeke had his first taste of catfood this month. At ten months, no longer a vegetarian.)

This week, however, he has a new game. He not only takes things out, he puts things in other things. I can't say, however, that he puts things "back" because they always go someplace new. So, new on the menu, the bottle of lotion went into the toybox and then in Aaron's shoe and today blocks went into the empty tissue box. He had occasionally done similar before, but now it is with great intentionality. What was really fun about this game today is that I would say, "Zeke, put the block in the box" and point at the block and the box and he would actually stop upsetting whatever he was upsetting to play with me. I'm not saying he was following directions, but I do think we were communicating.

We actually communicate a lot these days. He has a particular set of sounds that he uses when he sees the cats and the dog, for example. He also says "mama" and "dada". I don't necessarily think he could give you a definition of either, but I think he has a sense that we will come running if he is saying one of these. It doesn't always happen and I might be making this up, but sometimes it seems that when he is upset and with me that he cries for "dada" and that when he is with Aaron and upset he cries "mama". Trish and I are both convinced that he is talking, so what more objective judgement do you need?

Actually, I thought all the way back in mid-December that Zeke was talking, but it didn't seem to last very long. One day as he was waving goodbye, one of his playmate's mom said "Oh, he says bye-bye!" and it sure did sound like that. Then I noticed the next few days that it did truly sound like he said "bye-bye" (or at least "buh-buh") at the right moments. For example, we wave bye-bye to the bath every night before I dump the water out of the tub (really, I don't know how these rituals and routines start up). When he waved, he said "buh-buh". Then, when one of his toys turns off, it says "bye-bye". He responded in kind it seemed twice. Then we put him on the phone with Trish and he said it again. I could not believe it. So, why didn't I write about this in the blog immediately? Well, it just didn't seem to take. Now he sometimes says it, but sometimes he says "duh-duh" or "ra-ra" when waving. Haven't quite decided how I want to put this one in the records.

Zeke plays lots of games these days, in addition to the block-into-box game. Here are some of the favorites: feeding the dog, dropping things from the high chair, dropping things from the carseat so that they cannot be retrieved easily, breaking nightlights in the nursery, dropping things from the top of the stairs, closing doors, pulling the cords on the blinds, opening drawers, opening cabinets, pulling cords out of wall sockets.

As a result of all these fun and games, we have been childproofing. We have stocked up on outlet plugs and cabinet locks. And, as you can see, Sprout Daddy did a great job putting up baby gates at the top and bottom of the staircase. There's one less thing to worry about.