The two little boys are growing up!

Cameron. Loves. Food.

Mommy's milk? He'll take it for sustenance.
Baby food? So not happening.
Solid food? Mommy food? Daddy food? Andrew food? Can we say excited, bouncing, squealing baby?

The baby theorists tell us that we should be slowly introducing foods and textures to Cameron a little at a time. If this is the goal we have abysmally failed. Cameron wants to eat absolutely everything we eat.  Wendy and I have at times had to become very creative in our food cutting and slicing skills so that Cameron can eat the food that everyone else is eating and that he so enjoys.

Artisan wheat bread? Loved it.
Asparagas? Loved it.
Carrots/Celery? Loved them.
Apples/pears? Love them.

The only thing that Cameron will refuse is anything pureed or that resembles baby food in any way.

Andrew gets ready by himself

Today Wendy and the boys were upstairs hobnobbing with Marsha upstairs. Wendy mentioned that Andrew should take a shower. No usually this prompts tears; until of course he's in the water at which point he giggles uncontrollably.  This time...was different.

Leaving Marsha and Wendy upstairs Andrew came downstairs and happily engaged in an Andrew project which Wendy shortly discovered as she came down the stairs.  A shirt here, a left shoe here, a right shoe there, continuing on until there were no clothes remaining. The sight at the end of the trail of clothes? A naked Andrew on the diaper changing table removing the tabs of his diaper. He was so excited for his shower, and obviously the parents weren't moving fast enough, so he got ready for his shower by himself. Oh, and he giggled the entire time while in the shower, just in case you were wondering. 

And Daddy sighs

I know, I know. All you experienced Grandparents and decades long parents are going to roll your eyes at me. Still, it is surprising how often my little toddler and baby surprise me with their capabilities and how quickly they seem to be growing up. I miss my "butterfly" crawling infant at the same time I'm proud of him for learning to actually pull himself up and cruise around the room. I imagine this feeling is only going to get worse as they "actually" grow up. 

The insight the toddler gives me.

Today's "It's disturbing the insight my toddler gives on my habits"  experience.

I was reading one of my textbooks while marking with a highlighter.
Andrew was next to me drawing on his papers with his highlighter.

I notice that Andrew has the unopened end of the highlighter stuck in his mouth while grinning widely at me. At which point I realize, my highlighter is in exactly the same position.  Appears I eat my highlighters when studying.

Mimicry

He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you

- Rodney Atkins "Watching You"

Andrew has already showed that he is "watching us." The most gratifying mimicry, which is also described in the Rodney Atkins song, is that Andrew knows prayer. He knows the word triggers; he'll immediately fold his arms if you say prayer, or even Heavenly Father. He knows that prayer ends when people say amen. He also knows when we are supposed to pray; Andrew will not let us start eating before we pray at mealtime.

Charades on New Years Eve demonstrated Andrew's understanding of what he is watching.  My extended family was playing charades while waiting for the clock to tick down to midnight last night.  Michael had a Tupperware full of slips of paper; we all took turns choosing and then acting out the words that were listed. Andrew watched for several minutes fascinated. Then, he decided that he was going to participate. Andrew toddled over to the Tupperware and picked out a folded piece of paper. He proceeded to unfold it, and look at it like everyone else had. After a few seconds of thought Andrew moved into the middle of the room. He then put his hands together and made sword swiping movements.  The phrases that immediately came to my mind included both, "So cute!" and "Wow, I did not expect that!"

It does make me wonder in what other ways is Andrew more cognizant than I give him credit for. As Andrew gets older I think about what Andrew is learning as he watches me.  Am I demonstrating good habits? Am I using words that I want him to say?  What is he thinking, what is he learning, by my daily actions?

Learning name

It is never too early to teach a child their name right?

Why weren't the parents paying attention?

"Why weren't the parents paying attention?"  Early this October on boards, and comments on newspapers articles the internet screamed with this question. The parents in question were parents of two teenage girls who have been accused of cyber-bullying another teenager who eventually committed suicide. 

Interviews with both parents of the bullying victim and the bullies found that they all checked their child's Facebook page. All of them thought they were monitoring their child's social media habits and messages. All of them were wrong. None were aware of the messages that were being sent through other social media avenues such as Kik messenger and ask.fm.

When reading the news-articles I had to ask myself, "Would I have known?" Unfortunately the answer would have been no. I like to think of myself as at least competent in the area of technology. Reading through the list of social media apps that were used I did not recognize a majority of them. Upon further research I found articles describing the newest "generation" of social media. Apps such as Pheed, Wanelo , or 4chan have never even entered into my field of awareness. Even a casual perusal of the websites and apps show that they all have active populations. Even more disturbing was how easy it is on many of these apps to access inappropriate content. 

Andrew is only fifteen months old, so it's a little early for me to start worrying about his social media habits. That doesn't stop me though. He is growing up in a world that is increasing connected through media. Eliminating the use of social media is impractical. For better or worse it is becoming more and more integrated into our everyday world. I won't be able to monitor every single website or app that Andrew ever looks at. How do I as a parent allow my child to participate in media community while at the same time protecting them? I don't see easy answers. I'm sure it's a question that I'm going to struggle with for the next thirty years or so.