I think my child is starting to act like an only child. This shouldn't be an enormous surprise, seeing as he IS one, but I don't often get to observe him in settings that show that side of him. Take today: we enjoy a gathering of friends and kids at our friend's house ranging from 14 months to 8. They all ran around in a huge pack, playing and parallel-playing with each other. Landon wanted to sit on my lap and listen to the ladies around the kitchen table. When he did go play, he got very anxious if anyone even curiously approached him to see what he was up to. He acted like at any moment they were going to snatch his toy away and would look over at me for justice.
So if his integration skills are still in development, he has completely mastered the art of endearing himself to me. He loves helping, and as I've mentioned, his help slows us down and often creates more work, but I still love having him do it. I love having him hand me dishes from the dishwasher, or stand on his chair and load the washer one article of clothing at a time, or put things away(ish) with an eagerness that warms my heart.
Until he frightens me when he pulls up his chair to the kitchen counter and figures out how to climb on top of it and is heading straight for the knife block. Or he wants to play with the water longer and thrashes around so violently when his time at the sink is done that sometimes I worry that his head is going to connect with my teeth one of these days to the sad, sad, regret of us both.
"Jode, is there a reason your slippers are in the hamper?"
"Oh, that was just Landon. I asked him to put them in the closet."
"Same with these black shoes? Was that Landon, too?"
Who else can make creating chaos so dang cute?
Jodi, this is great! I loved your description of your little fellow and I couldn't agree with you more - our tots create chaos, but it is so dang cute!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read more about my sweet nephew!