The Things They Do

Sunday morning I was doing my hair while Cheetah played in our bedroom.
(Lest you get any fanciful notions, I am not a 2-hours-plus-product-and-equipment kind of hair doing girl. I am a five-minutes-max-check-for-blemishes-ponytail-lip-gloss-and-mascara kind of girl.)
My hands are in the air with the elastic and the brush and I hear a splashing sound.
I turn around and Cheetah has come into the bathroom on silent feet, opened the toilet lid noiselessly (fortunately he does not know the seat lifts up as well), and he is playing in the water.
The toilet water.
I understand his being fascinated with the lid. He likes to flush too and I get that. I expect to have our water bill increase once he can open doors on his own. (We usually keep the bathroom doors closed.)
But when has he ever seen anyone put their hand *in* the toilet?

This is me wondering who he's copying.

Spring Break - Day 1

Hottest spring on record and not much of the promised rain.
But can still party:

This is me hangin' with the boys on Spring Break.

And so it begins...

Here was my moment of Zen the other day. Moments like these are very poignant. On the one hand he is taking his first steps on the path to literacy and making some excellent decisions with his agency which makes me very proud. On the other hand he is only 15 months old and he doesn’t really know what he is doing. He is faithfully replicating what he has seen Jane and me do down to the cardboard briefcase in the foreground.  He sees me carrying my ledertasche when I come home from church functions and now he is following suit which makes me rather scared. I mean he is always watching, learning and observing. When I see him following my example, its like looking in a mirror and I have become very sensitive about the type of example that I lead.

At the same time it is very heartwarming seeing Ian following in our footsteps. He has always preferred to eat what he observes his parents are eating instead of generic baby food. Last night Jane made a very tasty and somewhat spicy, Asian, lettuce wrap dish. We were a little worried the chili peppers would be too much for him. Last summer the chicken at Chipotle was too much for him. But after watching us, he was scarfing the filling down with two hands.

 I have also noticed some similarities with his attitude towards sleep. In short, he resists the urge to slumber until it is physically impossible to do so. I actually do the same thing. I have always preferred to sleep as little as possible; I’ve been known to skip sleeping altogether when enthralled in a good book or computer game. Lately I’ve had some late nights were I’ve needed to unwind afterwards and ended up falling asleep while listening to a favorite podcast on the couch. I guess my age is showing.

It is refreshing to see the many things we have in common. I have so much I want to teach Cheetah and in addition to the many things that I enjoy about life, much of it will be things I always wanted to experience but never did or shortcomings of mine that I want to make sure he avoids. I am apprehensive about how this mix of old and new will be received and I am very glad at this early juncture we are speaking the same language. It bodes well for the future.

Explorations and Encounters Part 3

Cheetah is also a fan of the great indoors as well.

Here he is climbing my desk to get at my computer. He has tipped the paper shredder on its side and is now standing on it so he can reach my mouse. He is a very energetic explorer.

However the intrepid explorer's reach sometimes exceeds his grasp. He is becoming increasingly capable; he gets off of the couch easily enough and can dismount our 4 foot high bed in a barely controlled dismount. Yet thankfully our eagerly almost independent 15 month old still needs us to bail him out of trouble sometimes.

Explorations and Encounters Part 2

Nothing however interests Cheetah more than food. He brakes for anything edible:

As you can see from the above video nothing about the wild outdoors is nearly as interesting to Cheetah as the cherry tomatoes growing on the side of our house. When he eats he is very enthusiastic and very single minded. 

He is also very insistent. Apparently Jane was not moving fast enough for the walking stomach last week and so when her back was turned he reached up on tippy toes to get a bowl of cottage cheese off of the table, remove the totally unnecessary fork, sat down and proceed to gorge most gloriously on the tasty curds. Such beautifully expressive eyes. Here is a being experiencing life to its fullest and wondering why you aren't doing likewise. Bon Appetit!