Our Little Parrot

Evan is a riot! He's repeating words that he hears Dave or I say. His most recent being Jack (that's what Dave calls me), bird, tree, book, diaper, banana, dog, and papa. He's also in what I call a 'destructive phase'. E's been throwing his toys. I imagine he's doing that just to see what happens or to get a reaction out of us. For example if he throws a toy, I quickly and quietly (without saying anything) remove him from the situation, sit him down in a time out, and model how to play with his toys. After the time out I invite him to play with me and his toys. If he continues to throw his toys after the time out, I repeat the process and say we play with our toys. We don't throw them. So far it has taken one or two times of time outs and modeling. When he finds a new toy and decides to throw it I follow this 'discipline' process that I learned from the Love and Logic book.

Yesterday I found E on top of his Leap Frog play table trying to reach things off the kitchen table. He moved the play table next to the kitchen table and climbed on top. Today I found him on top of 2 storage bins trying to climb onto the daybed in our guest bedroom. He sure is a dare devil and curious little boy. If he's not climbing onto things he's trying to throw things and wrestle with anyone he sees at our play places. Luckily E's friend, Grace, is a tough cookie. E goes up to her, hugs her and then tries to wrestle her to the ground then he tries to hug or kiss her. She just resists him all the while putting up with his playfulness and love. So happy she doesn't mind!

E's been enjoying the parks. We have been trying to visit at least one new park a week. So far it doesn't seem to matter to Evan as long as he can run and climb on things. He also loves the ones with sprinklers. I took a video of E at the park. Check it out...