It's Gobbles Time!: Days of Summer - catching up with Gobbles

These days, nothing gets by Mr. Gobbles. You cannot say one word or do one thing without him picking it up and making it his own.

Take a few weeks ago, for instance. Though the he's not as obsessed as he was, the ceiling fan in the kitchen will still occasionally grab Gobbles' attention. One day, he started tugging on hubs' legs to let him reach up and pull the cord to turn the light on and off. His Daddy decided to tease him a bit and lift him just close enough but not quite. "Almost!" hubs laughed. Every morning thereafter Gobbles walks into the kitchen and points to the fan Almost! he calls it. Ahh my boy.

Discipline is in full force these days, with the mat being the time-out zone both at my house and my mom's. The biggest crimes that land Gobbles on the mat are throwing things he's not supposed to or hitting during a tantrum. More than once, as he hears the words No Throw come out of anyone's mouth, he automatically runs over to the mat, MAT!! and sits himself down before letting the lower lip come out and crocodile tears flow. I try not to laugh because we usually give him a warning first, and when he violates a second time that's when we'll send him to time out. I think he's putting himself there early because he loves the makeup hug and kiss that he gets when his 15 seconds are up. Either that or he's a bit dramatic - no idea where he'd get that....

Gobbles is also keeping me in my place. Sometimes when I'm cleaning up I'll toss pillows here or chuck his toys into the corner there. My little conscience is always there to remind me No THROW Mommy. Let's just say I've had to put myself in time out for a few minutes some times in order to be consistent. He's even yelled at the TV, in a particular episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse where Mickey was digging in the dirt and tossing it aside. No THROW Mickey! Mickey never ended up getting timeout though.

His favorite activities these days (besides the pool which I'm too lazy to drag out sometimes) are throwing (he's allowed to throw balls inside and out, as long as it's not near the tv, kid's got a good arm!) coloring, singing, going for walks, and throwing out trash. I know it's still early but I'm pretty sure he's a lefty. His throws are more accurate and he grips the crayons and makes better circles with his left. Wheels on the bus and Itsy bitsy spider are among favorite songs, with an occasional happy and you know it thrown in.

Walks are great because he's started to learn his dog owner duties. Our Spoons is such a good, patient girl that she was gentle and obedient when Gobbles "walked" her up the street. Now we can't even leave a leash laying around the house because he'll grab it and run up to her, Hmph (that's how he pronounces her name. yet he has no trouble with Cannoli), and try to wrap it around her to get us out for the door for a walk. Even when the pups are exhausted and trying to sleep!

Everyday errands have become a bit tough - grocery shopping he can only last in the cart about 15 minutes before trying to climb out (the seat belt thing doesn't fit), then there's about another 15 minutes of him holding onto the cart as he walks beside it. After that, he's either charging up and down the aisles or I'm carrying him while pushing the cart, just trying to get done as fast as possible!

Finally, just this past weekend, Gobbles decided to "play pretend" and show us his imagination. Now, he's always held different things up to his ear pretending they were phones Hewwoo?, but this was different. I was constructing the diaper cake for my sister-in-law's upcoming shower. The box and extra pack of diapers was laying around the living room. Gobbles gathered the diapers and stacked them in the box, then sat inside on the diapers. Choo CHOOO. Twain Mommy! Daddy TWAIN! I looked at hubs perplexed and proud - "where did he get that??"

Tears came to my eyes as I realized that this little boy is just that, a little boy who is constantly developing, growing, and exploring. Not one trace of the nine pound bundle we brought home just 20 months ago. I am amazed at how much he absorbs each day, his little brain is constantly processing something, taking in new information from places I don't even know. Gobbles is just an awesome kid, now that he's got all this stuff going on, I feel like I'll never run out of Gobbles stories to tell.