Getting a Reaction

Recently Nate has started paying attention to how we react to things. It is fun to watch his watch us to see how we might react to something. It all started a couple of weeks ago when he was walking away and I told him to "get over here". He thought it was funny when I had to chase him down and now playing chase is his favorite game. Especially at bath time when he's naked and running down the hallway. But it's also created other games. He has a basket of little plastic balls in his playroom. I am constantly cleaning them up. One day I just finished putting them all back in the basket when he came over and dumped them out. I said in a high dramatic voice, "oh no, not my basket!" The next day we were playing and he went over to the basket. Instead of dumping it right away, he put one hand on it and then turned back to me, waiting for my response. As soon as he saw that I was looking at him, he got a huge smile on his face and dumped the basket out, which I of course had to reply as if I really was upset, both of laughing the whole time. Even the simplest of things turn into games. This morning I was cuddling on the floor under a blanket and he came over to me and took it off. I of course, said, "Cold, brrr" which he thought was funny and thus this pattern continued for the next several minutes.

Although this also makes it difficult to discipline. We are trying to get him away from the blinds in the kitchen as he has already destroyed several, but when we go over there and tell him no and take him away from the door, he thinks it's a game and laughs and runs back over to the door, pushing on the blinds. This is also a problem when he bites. I tell him "no bite" in a very serious tone, but he thinks it's funny and will continue to try and bite me. Not so funny for mommy.

He cracks me up, the way he looks at me now, waiting for my reaction to things and then responding to it or anticipating it. I'm amazed at how smart babies, eh hem, toddlers are, and how much they absorb and remember.