Short Takes

--The new mantra in our house is "chairs are for tushies." Doodles has an Anywhere Chair that he loves to stand in. Then he lets go and lets himself fall backwards. Or he uses the chair as a launching point to reach the window. Repeat after me: "Chairs are for tushies!"
--Why would any child's toy come with a hammer? Plastic or not? Think about it!
--When did sodas stop coming in six packs? Has anyone else noticed this? You can now buy them either in twelve packs or mini six packs. Or is this just a local thing? This is definitely an evil ploy from the soda company to insure that we're all hooked on caffeine and therefore buy more soda, kind of like how the tobacco companies put more nicotine in cigarettes. I plan on writing my congressperson.
--Right around his birthday, it was like a switch was flipped on Doodles. All of a sudden, he's taking one nap a day. He's pointing at things. He's mimicking us (in a cute way), doing things like putting his toy phone to his ear and making the hand motions we make. He's resisting any forms of sitting (why sit when you can crawl?). He's starting to stand on his own. Doodles has declared, in his own way, "Infanthood is over, Mom! Let's get a move on this toddler thing!"
--We really fell down on trying to teach Doodles to sign. I had about four I was trying to use consistently, but the only one I ever remembered to do was the one for "milk" (which we used interchangeably for b*reastfeeding, formula, and now milk). And for the first time last week, in our morning snuggle session, he sat up with a smile and made the sign for milk. I was so happy! We got him his bottle right away. I was so pleased we were opening the lines of communication! And then, I screwed it up. While giving Doodles a bath, I sang "Five Little Ducks." And when I got to the part where "He led the others with a 'quack quack, quack," I opened and closed my hand like a duck bill quacking. Doodles loved it! And the next thing I knew he was trying to mimic me. Only his duck quacking motion is exactly the same as his milk motion (which also closely resembles his goodbye motion). So this morning, as we were playing, he made the squeezing hand motion. And I had no idea if he wanted his bottle, his song, or for me to leave. That'll teach me to communicate with my child!