Baby Logic #36 – Gift Wrap
About a week ago we all went to the local store to buy stuff in preparation of Christmas. Amongst other things we bought four rolls of XMas gift wrap, which Ro went on to play with (think swords) inside the store, before checkout.
Fast forward to yesterday, when he was playing with his toys in front of the tree, that had many wrapped gifts already underneath it.
Ro: Daddy, I like the box with the robots, can I have it?
me: That’s for XMas, you can have it on XMAS eve, if you were good.
Ro: can I also have this? <pointing to another box wrapped in a XMas gift wrap with robots on it>
me: That’s also for you, for XMas.
Ro: <smiling, and looking now carefully at all the boxes under the tree>
me: <pointing to another gift of his, wrapped in a paper that we bought in the store with him> Would you like this one, too for XMas?
Ro: … <examining the package>: NO.
me: <surprised> NO!?
Ro: I don’t want rolls.
me: <startled>. ammm, what rolls?
Ro: The ones we bought at the store the other day.
me: Ahh, no Ro, there are no rolls inside the box, Santa just used the paper to wrap the gift!
Ro: Ah, then I want it, but I’ll save it for another Christmas.
me: you want to save it for next XMas?
Ro: Yes!
me: OK, then we’ll save it.
Baby Logic #35 – bending spot
At the Day Care parking lot:
Ro: Dad, why are you going to the bending spot?
me: Where do I go?
Ro: To the bending spot! Usually we park at the door, but today you’re going to the bending spot!
<Day Care has a drive through for drop-off, that can be quite crowded around 9am, and a parking lot around it>
me: Ahh, you mean the parking spot? The drive through is too busy this morning and there’s no room, so I have to park. I need to turn to get into this parking spot!
Baby Logic #34 – Flies
Ro wanted to ride his little red trike around the block in the evening last night. It was cold and he needed to dress up to go outside. So I asked him:
me: What do you need to do to go outside?
Ro: Jacket!
me: Right, what else?
Ro: Socks and shoes!
me: Right, what else?
Ro: Brush my teeth!
me: <huh?>
Ro: There are flies outside, and when my mouth is open my teeth get dirty!!
Baby Logic #33 – Walking direction
Ro <walking backwards>: Look mommy, I’m walking forward, looking backwards!
Mommy: All a matter of perspective….
Medication side effects
Today I’m experiencing heavy side effects from a new medication my doctor prescribed. Usually you only glance over the possible side effects, but this morning, when I woke up with back pain I checked my prescription:
sore muscles – check
dizziness – check
general weakness/sleepiness – check
cough – check
Sounds like I have to stop taking this nonsense drug. I can barely concentrate while sitting at my desk…
Baby Logic #32 – About things that happened before he was born
This is a somewhat unsatisfying post, as to it doesn’t have a conclusion, because Ro continued to struggle with the past time concept.
Ro <pointing to Kuttu’s eye>: Daddy, how did Kuttu get this bubu?
Me: Charlie bit him, because Kuttu made a bad choice – he stole Charlie’s food.
Ro: Biting is bad. Did Charlie get a timeout?
Me: Yes, he did. We don’t bite .We use our words, or bark.
Ro: Was Charlie having his timeout there? <pointing to the wall where Ro usually gets his timeouts>
At this point I had to get creative, because this whole incident happened in our previous house, where Ro has never been because he wasn’t born yet. So I moved the story to our house…
Me: No, Charlie had his time out in the breakfast area.
Ro: At the green wall?
Me: No, the wall was white. We had not painted it yet.
<Ooops, I should have left out that detail.>
Ro: White? Why is the wall green now?
Me: Because mommy likes colors. She made it green.
<Phew, dodged that detail.>
Ro: Was Charlie good in his time-out?
Me: Yes, he was very good.
Ro: Was he three?
Me: No he was five and Kuttu was three.
Ro: Was I three?
Me: No you weren’t born yet.
Ro: <blank stare>
Me: … you weren’t here yet. Not even in mommy’s belly.
Ro: was I zero?
Me: <Impressed> yes, you weren’t here yet, like zero, nil, zilch.
Ro: No, I mean not one, – zero
Me: Ahhh! – No, you weren’t born yet, not just younger than one. You weren’t c o n c e i v e d. <big smile on my face>
Ro: < blank stare>
Me: Never mind. Charlie was good in his time out. Do you want to play with the silver car?
Ro: Yes, the silver car is my *favorite*!
From there we left the time before he was born alone…
Baby Logic #31 – Flying at level zero
This morning there was thick fog while driving to day care.
Me: Ro, can you see all the white fog around us?
Ro: Yes, we’re flying in a cloud!
Note his use of the word “flying” while moving in a car, since that’s where he’s seen this phenomenon before.
Baby Logic #30 – With or without you
About a month ago, when we were driving to day care in the morning, I had forgotten to pack Ro’s beloved Pluto stuffed toy. Pluto is his special toy and goes everywhere with him. Thinking of it, he’s probably the most traveled stuffed toy on the planet with multiple trips to India, Germany and around the US :).
So I had to come up with a strategy to explain, why it’s OK to drive without Pluto that day, so I didn’t have to turn around. I noticed that U2’s “With or without You” song was playing on the radio, so I explained that sometimes you can do things (here: going to day care) with or without someone (read: Pluto). After explaining this a couple of times to him, Ro was happy and was humming along with the tune – problem solved.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, when we were driving again to day care -without Pluto.
Ro: Daddy, can we listen to the Pluto song?
It took me a moment to decipher his logic, but then remembered and played U2 on the radio for him. That made him smile.
Baby Logic #29 – Thinking of You and Me = Yummie!
Paati: Ro, when I went to do groceries, I saw the strawberries and I was thinking of you that you would like them.
Ro: You were thinking of yumm-meee!!!