In Retrospect-- Warning: really long

There's a lot of things that we should have done differently with Luke. You know. You look back at things you did and laugh at yourself or make fun of yourself. For example, I wish that we were a little bit harsher with his sleep training so that he slept through the night sooner. I also wish that I had figured out earlier that it was okay for Luke to cry for 10 minutes while I took a shower. But retrospect lately has focused on, "WHY DID WE TEACH HIM THAT?" and then "NO REALLY. WHY DID WE TEACH HIM THAT?"

Here are 3 prime examples:

1. About a month ago I let Luke help me make cookies. He was absolutely fascinated-- and that's an understatement. After we were done fixing the batter, he wouldn't leave the bowl alone. He demanded to be held up so he could just look into the bowl. He would smile and laugh. I honestly think he would have been happy to just stare at cookie dough for hours. When I wouldn't pick him up (I had to put him down every few minutes. My arms just aren't that strong), he would cry. We had to put him to bed just to calm him down. Anyway, he now loves everything about the kitchen. Pots and pans are his absolute favorite toys. That's not such a problem. But I can't leave anything on the stove without me standing right in front of it. The whole time I'm cooking, Luke pulls on my legs screaming "Up!Up!" because he wants to look in the bowl or pot or whatever. He's tried to touch a hot burner or pot several times. Luckily, so far I've stopped him every time, but you see my worry, right? And not only am I worried but my arms ache because he constantly wants to be held up to look at a simmering soup, stare into a bowl of raw meatloaf, or whatever. I want to let him help me though. So this week I let him stir the sauce that would be used in a casserole. But when it came time to add the sauce to the casserole, he FLIPPED out. Screaming, kicking, the whole works. It totally reminded me of my dog, Casey. We can't walk her because every time we take her for a walk, she digs out constantly for 2 weeks afterwards. So the dumb dog is stuck in the house or backyard. No out and about for her. I feel like Luke is the same. If you give him a spoon and batter, you're in for it. For days on end. I'm not sure whether I should keep letting him help me or not. It's fun while we're doing it. I feel like he's learning from the experience and I know he likes it. But it also turns him into a crazy person that I can't quite deal with.

2. Because I am a total IDIOT, I don't learn from the past. So this week I let Luke help me wash the dishes. I pulled a chair over to the sink and handed him a cup while I finished washing. Luke just swished the cup around in the water for a while. Then he filled the cup with water and dumped it on the floor. Whatever. Water is pretty easy to clean up, so I let him dump it a few times. But once I was done and drained the water, I realized my big mistake. Luke wasn't done. And since he'd watched me move the chair, he knew exactly how to make his fun continue. He dragged a chair over to the sink himself. Several times. And for several days. And since Luke is a master at transferring his knowledge to different situations, he's also dragged a chair over to light switches, the computer, and the vacuum. (He likes to hold the handle of the vacuum.) The morning he first did it, he touched the best thing in the house. My absolute favorite thing that he's dragged the chair over to touch is the stove. That was sarcasm. That was the thing that freaked me out the most. Because what if he drags a chair over when the stove is hot? I wanted him to know that it is not okay to drag the chair. I put him in time out, but he kept doing it. And I needed to go to the bathroom. So I dragged him into the bathroom with me and sat down. Luke promptly proceeded to open the door into the his bedroom and then open his bedroom door to get into the hallway. So while doing my thing I hear a chair scraping across the kitchen floor. I had to take a pause (This is so gross. I apologize), grab the kid, bring him back to the bathroom, lock both doors, and finish. Why, WHY did I let him stand on a chair?

Trouble

Serious Trouble

3. Jared showed Luke how to open his bedroom door. Once again: knowledge transfer. I got out of the shower to find Luke banging on the water heater because he could open the utility closet. I also found a tootsie pop in the pantry that had half of it's wrapper eaten off, the tub of animal cookies dumped on the floor, and the water bottles all over the kitchen floor. So apparently he could also open the pantry. Oh, and he locked me out of our bathroom. Luckily he wasn't inside the bathroom. He just turned the lock and then pulled the door shut. After he opened it himself. So every door in our house now has a child lock on the handle. (Except on the inside of the bathroom, although I am now debating whether or not they are needed there.)

Utility door complete with doorknob lock

I hope all this trouble is a sign that Luke is really smart. I think he must be because he is so observant. This one amazed me. Today I was preparing the diaper bag to go out. I stuck a juice box in the bag and went to get my shoes. When I came back to the hallway, Luke was holding the juice box in one hand and the straw in the other. I was shocked that he could even get the straw off the box and out of it's wrapper, but I watched him actually get the straw through the hole and then sit and drink the entire juice box! I was so proud of him! And then I was bugged because that was the last juice box and now I needed to go prep a sippy cup to bring instead.