Hide and Seek

We play a new game in this house...Hide and Seek. You never know when a game may break out...but one thing is for sure. You always know who is the hider and who is the seeker! One of Walker's favorite things to do right now is hide important things from us. Recently, we've found a sippy cup in the seat of his bus, his Bambi book in the kitchen cabinets, my cell phone in his shorts drawer and his diapers in his closet and drawers.

Another new addition to our household over the past week or two is the frequent use of the word "no" by Walker. It started out innocently, a "no" sound here and there...until we realized they weren't just sounds and they were happening at times that were appropriate for Walker to display his opinion on something. So far this week, he's told Judy "no" when she tried to change his diaper, when she offered him a snack and when she offered him his milk. The "best" occurrance so far is when I took him to Walmart on Tuesday afternoon. As we were getting back into the truck and I was fastening him in his carseat he was doing his usual charade of flipping completely over, standing up in the seat and checking out what was going on in the front seat. Well, I've gotten pretty talented at holding him down and getting him in quickly...what I didn't expect was oral defense. "NO MAMA" to be more exact. Wow. And there you go.

He's really getting into "trouble" these days. He's so very interested in pushing our buttons and seeing how far he can go. We've been implementing the remove and replace method of discipline lately. However, Walker moves right back to what he's been removed from. He does this time and time again, and is never ever satisfied with what he's been given as a replacement. Prime example-today he wanted to pull the lamp over that sits behind the chair. I moved him from it, explained that it would hurt Walker and gave him something else. He threw down the something else and made a bee-line for the lamp. Stopping of course, to turn around and make sure I was watching him right before he attemped to pull up on the lamp. This went on a good 10 minutes before we finally left the room. And yes, he went all the way back into the living room as soon as I put him down in another room...and you guessed it, straight to the lamp. Laughing this time. Discipline is definitely a game to him right now...I am not sure what eventually ended this little episode, but I do know that it didn't end before he threw himself backwards and yelled at the top of his lungs. Then he just went about his business and started pushing his bus. At one point, I told him mommy was taking a nap and I laid down on the floor and closed my eyes (just pretending, of course...). He normally takes this time to tackle me. Not today, the little monkey went straight for that lamp. (about 15 minutes had passed from the last time he was removed from it, too!) So, we started over. It took a while, but...mommy-1, Walker-0! :)

He's very interested in throwing things into the trash. I guess this goes along with hide and seek. Our trash can is behind the baby gate, but he can now reach over the gate and drop things in. I guess it's time to invest in one with a lid. No telling what the rats might find in our garbage!

We had dinner at Cliff's parents house Friday night and Walker had a blast. These days, whenever he sees Bailey (once our dog, now theirs...) he says "wuff". So cute. :) At Dad's house when he see's the dogs (Belle and Dixie) he says "dog." We're not sure what the difference is, except that Bailey is a yapper. Tonight we had a birthday party to go to for one of Cliff's aunts. The whole family was there. Uncle Marshall took Walker out in the back yard to see the dogs and when he came back he reported that Walker said "wuff..." So, we're clueless as to what warrants "dog" and what warrants "wuff." The dogs in our neighborhood are also "dog."

And my favorite moment from the weekend, so far, was our nap this afternoon. Walker wouldn't take his afternoon nap. He played nicely in his crib about 30 minutes before he got annoyed with us and decided to let us know it. I really wanted him to take a nap, so he'd be pleasant at the birthday party tonight, so I got him and laid him in the bed between us. He played, jumped, pulled hair, giggled, etc for about 20 minutes before I finally held him close and tight. He fought with tears for a minute but fell sound asleep...and there we slept, the three of us, for an hour or so. Sweetest hour of my day, for sure. Then it was over, and he was up playing, jumping, pulling hair, giggling...and this time, popping daddy on the head because his eyes were still closed. I swear, something about our bed makes the child go crazy.