Good Gratitude

If I am to infer anything from my baby pictures, I liked to get into stuff.  I have photos of me digging through grocery bags, the VCR, and my mother's purse.

Nothing was safe around baby Alyssa.

So who could have predicted that I would have a child who also likes to get into stuff?

Jack has been dying to tip over a trash can for ages.  He watches us throwing stuff away all day long and it's all the stuff he wishes he could have.  Tissues to bunch up in his hands and rub on his face.  Pieces of cardboard that are quite tasty and full of fiber.  Plastic grocery bags that make delightful sounds when you wave them about.  The trash can is a treasure trove of dreams come true for my little seven-month-old.

Luckily for my floors and Jack's hygiene, I am pretty good at not leaving him alone in a room with an accessible trash can.  The kitchen trash used to be safe because Jack was afraid to crawl on the linoleum.  He got over that fear today, so I will have to be extra vigilant about watching him when we are playing downstairs.

Another recent obsession for Jack is the little spring door stop behind our bedroom door.  He loves flipping it and listening to the sound it makes as it wiggles back into place.  Jack can play with that door stop for minutes at a time, which is a lot for a baby.  He loves it so much, I have felt comfortable leaving him to it while I do my hair or makeup.  I can hear him playing from there and he doesn't have to be trapped in baby jail for no reason.

But apparently Jack has been picking up on some magic trick tips from his father.  He does something for so long that you fixate on that while he is secretly plotting against you.  This morning I left him playing with the doorstop while I used the bathroom's facilities.  I was so confident in his appreciation for all things springy that I didn't even notice when the sound of his playing changed from "boing!" to "swish, swish."

Lewis and Jack exchanging tips.

Upon exiting the bathroom I discovered my dear son with a big silly grin on his face, playing in the garbage he had dumped all over himself.

But never you fear, there was a bright side!  First of all, the fact that it he knocked over the bedroom trash can rather than the bathroom or kitchen.  Second, the piece of garbage he selected for his chewing delight was an empty paper prescription bag, rather than the abundance of snotty tissues that had previously occupied space in that can.

I feel like I've shown a lot of maturity today by being so grateful in spite of Jack's capers.  I better turn in early.