water, hockey, climbing, na-na

These are Eddie's most favorite things right now. I swear he would play with/in water all day if he could. Of course he still loves bath time - earlier this month he gave his grandparents a show while he laid down horizontally in the water and splashed around as if swimming. These days he is a bit more calm in the bath and enjoys his new bath books. But his new water obsession is the kitchen facuet, well really any facuet. He loves to wash his hands, which I guess is a good thing. And I made the mistake of allowing him onto the kitchen island one afternoon and he quickly discovered how to turn the kitchen sick facuets on and off, splashing around with such intensity. He is part mad scientist, part amphibian.

He has a genuine love for hockey. Numerous times throughout the day, I would say at least three times, he will run to the basement down and whine to go downstairs so that he can grab his sticks and hit pucks into the net. If you utter the word "hockey" he will run to the basement door. Once I made the mistake of saying to him while he was eating, "you have to eat so you can grow up big and strong and play hockey" and he literally leapt out of his high chair to run downstairs. He also knows the words for "stick" and "puck" and "score." I bet your average 17 month old doesn't have those in their vocabulary.

Climbing. If he wasn't playing with water or playing hockey Eddie would be climbing something. He climbs onto every chair with ease. He scales up chairs and onto tables. He cascades over cushions on the couch and aims high for pictures and mirrors hanging on the wall. He just wants to be higher and higher these days.

Dr. Barry Brazelton talks about the increasing "negativism" at this age - the struggle between supporting your toddlers self-assertion and disciplining them to define limits to protect them. And so one of the most popular words of toddlers is "no." Eddie's version of no is "na na." He says it to acknowledge that he knows something is a no-no. He says it while pointing to the oven, while pointing to glass bottles, while attempting to bite his dad and even sometimes amidst one of his climbing attempts. Although discipline does not come naturally to me, I have had to step up and set some limits. Sometimes I am shocked by now much I am saying "no" these days, Like, no Eddie, "we don't play in the garbage," or "Eddie, remember, no going by Marty while she's eating, we can't bother her while she's eating," or "no, the toliet is not for playing, it's for making poopies and potties." Sometimes it's like he doesn't listen or rather, doesn't care to obey. I can pull him away from Marty's dish while she's eating, and then he just runs right back to it. But I am noticing some progress the more we repeat these lessons. Actually, I can't even recall the last time I had to pull him away from Marty while she was eating as it hasn't seemed to occur at all this week.

I guess this is his 17 month update. It has been a rough month of sickness - first Eddie with a 10 day cold and then me with a 3 day stomach flu. But it has also been a good start to a new year with our new music class and new play group. Eddie is truly a good, social kid and I am assured of this the more I see him interact with others, and the more I observe the others and some of their undesirable behaviors. Eddie is gentle, focused, kind, curteous, passionate, independent and downright fun.