"Cwimbing Up" and "No Thank You"

 

Despite the fact our firstborn was a boy and in addition to all that we have heard that boys tend to be more rambunctious, we managed to avoid the toddler stage where Colin climbed up on everything.  In fact, for the most part, he was pretty easy for many years because he was very tentative as his strength was developing.  That's not to say he didn't get into trouble in his own ways (he often would get stuck in precarious positions) but the one thing we never had to worry about was finding Colin climbing on furniture or other items.  However, that all changed very recently and we seem to have reverted back to that old toddler stage.

 

As Colin's strength has greatly improved, so has his confidence and he has been trying to climb up on EVERYTHING.  I am having a really hard time with it because on the inside, I am laughing and cheering and am so happy that Colin is finally able to do many of the things that other kids his age can do with ease, but on the outside, I have to remain stern and remind him why he can't climb up on everything and anything. 

 

 

When he is reprimanded for doing this, his response always is, "but mom, I want to cwimb up!".  Just yesterday alone, in addition to the pictures around the house in this post, I also found Colin trying to scale our shut french doors, get on top of the playhouse outside, sitting on the computer desk (which isn't very big) and various other window sills.  He knows exactly what he is doing too (and that it's wrong) because he often calls me to the scene by saying "Moo-ommmm! Look at meeee!!".  I'll give him that much; at least he is proud of what he is doing and is letting me know he is being naughty!  

 

 

The thing is, I AM proud of him even though I can't show it because it's hard work for him to be able to do some of these things and it has taken a LONG time to get where he is.  I see this improving strength pay off in places like playgrounds and indoor bounce places where it requires a lot of climbing to get to the top of things.  His ease, independence, and speed at which he accomplishes these things is very quickly improving which is allowing him to be just like the other kids.  In addition, he isn't afraid to try a lot of these things which is exciting for us (even though it can still make us nervous, but in a good way!).  

 

Another area we have been working on is Colin keeping his hands to himself and instead, use words to voice his displeasure with something or to tell someone when he isn't interested or doesn't want to.  For example, his quick response a lot of time when someone would try to hug or touch him would simply be to push them away.  However, we have been working on this for a long time to replace using his hands with words like "no thank you".  Unfortunately, these words are backfiring on us because he is using them ALL OF THE TIME when he doesn't want to do something we ask of him. 

For example,

"Colin, it's time to go potty!"
"No thank you!!"
"Colin, it's time to clean up your toys."
"No thank you!!"

But, we are also seeing him using these words in good situations with Kailey where she will tell him/ask him to do something and he doesn't want to, he has been using words more often instead of his hands. 

 

 

There's no doubt about it, he's a little stinker.