frolic and detour

We are so free and easy without raid that I’m spending a random weekend with family. Mom and Dad picked me up Friday afternoon. We spent the weekend at brother’s house, then drove down to parents' house on Sunday (and I got a haircut). I’m working remote on Monday and will return home in the evening.

Brother’s house is still decorated for Christmas. Big Christmas garlands adorn the living room. No judgment from me. It’d take a ladder to get them down, and who has time for that when working an intense full-time job and taking care of a toddler? Also, there’s a mini Christmas tree on the side table and Christmas cling-wrap stickers on the kitchen sliding door. Those are BB’s. Brother's wife explained that they’ve tried to put away the mini Christmas tree multiple times, but BB always finds it and demands it be returned to its proper place.

BB had a bad stomach flu this week, but he had pretty much rounded the corner when we arrived Friday evening. (If I catch stomach flu from this visit, WHOOPS.) He was a bit listless/low-energy at first. Then he banged on the couch cushions and I banged on the cushions in response and that was VERY FUNNY. We’re so back.

By now he’s gotten most of his teeth and has developed a keen interest in eating the same way that everyone else does. Back in December his parents would carefully cut all his food into tiny bite-sized pieces, and I privately thought they should just give him food and let him learn/experiment. I needn’t have worried. Kids are self-teaching. Apparently, around a month ago, they got pizza for dinner and gave him the usual bite-sized pieces. He was not having it. He grabbed a real slice and chomped. Now the era of tiny foods is over.

Food is most interesting when it’s on someone else’s plate. On Saturday night we also got pizza (this tends to happen when you have a Pizza Hut down the block). Mom and Dad do this thing where they put raw spinach leaves atop their pizza. BB was fascinated by this. He took a leaf off Dad’s plate, put it on his plate, reconsidered, and put it back on Dad’s plate. No spinach for him. But later, he took another leaf from Dad’s plate, put it in his mouth…then realized his error and took it out of his mouth and returned it to Dad’s plate. Still later he was trying to grab Mom’s spinach.

He's still not very verbal, although his comprehension is strong (officially much smarter than the smartest cat). “What’s Grandma doing in the kitchen? Let’s go see what Grandma’s doing!” He understands all that—not just the isolated words Grandma and kitchen, but the more abstract concept of seeing what someone is doing, and he will ask to be carried so he can get a better view. He just doesn’t feel the need to say many words himself. When he does, it’s situational. For instance, last time we were here, he wanted to watch Bluey but couldn’t find the remote. This made his parents realize the remote was missing from its usual spot. Suddenly there were five adults scouring the living area for the remote. This was such a good object lesson that BB said, “gone, gone.” He obviously didn’t learn that word on the spot, and I haven’t heard him use it since. But it’s in his head.

He’s definitely getting there. New (to me) words I heard from him this weekend: Grandma, mine, no, and baa (used to refer to his stuffed sheep). “Grandma” was an all-time first and a momentous occasion, but his mom missed it and he wouldn’t say it again. “Say Grandma!! BB, can you say Grandma?” BB nods silently. He can do it.