Bobby's Menagerie
Bobby has a really great relationship with his pets. Symbiotic, you might even say.
For example, at meal time, Bobby dangles his sticky fingers over the side of the high chair and Homer obligingly licks them off. If Homer's not right on the spot, Bobby peers over the side to look for him. (A preview, no doubt, of Bobby handing food to Homer under the table in another year or so.) During Bobby's meal, Homer stations himself between me and the high chair. Presumably he's deduced that, thanks to gravity, anything that falls off the spoon on its way from the plate to Bobby's mouth is probably going to fall in that space between me and the high chair, and he wants to be right on it. Unfortunately, what ends up happening is that the food falls on his nose, where he can't reach it, and Scylla has to come along to clean it off. Once Bobby's done eating (and out of his high chair), Scylla goes to town cleaning off the seat to remove any stray Cheerios, shredded cheese or avocado pieces.
Penelope, meanwhile, is probably going to be the instigator of Bobby walking. She spends a lot of time hanging out in the living room with him. She wanders right up next to him, waits for him to take notice, and then sprints off just barely ahead of him. He then powers across the room after her (still crawling, but at high speed) and gets there just as she jumps up onto the window sill or the back of the couch. He stands up, gets close, and she takes off across the room again. This can go on for 20 minutes. Bobby thinks she's the most amusing thing ever. Her motivation is less clear. After a little while she starts to get stressed out and slithers between the rails of the baby gate, but she's usually back within a few minutes. No matter how relaxed she seems (and I've seen her lie down in the middle of the floor and roll over on her back as if daring him to catch her) she always knows exactly where he is and never lets down her guard.
With one exception.
Bobby's got a few plastic balls that came with a toy. Like so many toys, the main part is less interesting than the peripherals. This one is a little box with holes in the top, a mallet, and four balls. You're supposed to pound on the balls with the mallet 'til they go through the holes and roll out the bottom. This is a little advanced for him, but the mallet is fun and the balls are fun.
Penelope agrees. Penelope drops all inhibition when she sees Bobby holding onto these prized toys and sidles right up to him. She waits for him to let go of one, then snags it and races around the room dribbling it. Bobby thinks that's funny, so he chases her. Thanks to the slant of our living room floor, the ball periodically rolls back to Bobby, so they actually end up playing together.
Until the ball rolls under the couch.
Mom
Bobby has a really great relationship with his pets. Symbiotic, you might even say.
For example, at meal time, Bobby dangles his sticky fingers over the side of the high chair and Homer obligingly licks them off. If Homer's not right on the spot, Bobby peers over the side to look for him. (A preview, no doubt, of Bobby handing food to Homer under the table in another year or so.) During Bobby's meal, Homer stations himself between me and the high chair. Presumably he's deduced that, thanks to gravity, anything that falls off the spoon on its way from the plate to Bobby's mouth is probably going to fall in that space between me and the high chair, and he wants to be right on it. Unfortunately, what ends up happening is that the food falls on his nose, where he can't reach it, and Scylla has to come along to clean it off. Once Bobby's done eating (and out of his high chair), Scylla goes to town cleaning off the seat to remove any stray Cheerios, shredded cheese or avocado pieces.
Penelope, meanwhile, is probably going to be the instigator of Bobby walking. She spends a lot of time hanging out in the living room with him. She wanders right up next to him, waits for him to take notice, and then sprints off just barely ahead of him. He then powers across the room after her (still crawling, but at high speed) and gets there just as she jumps up onto the window sill or the back of the couch. He stands up, gets close, and she takes off across the room again. This can go on for 20 minutes. Bobby thinks she's the most amusing thing ever. Her motivation is less clear. After a little while she starts to get stressed out and slithers between the rails of the baby gate, but she's usually back within a few minutes. No matter how relaxed she seems (and I've seen her lie down in the middle of the floor and roll over on her back as if daring him to catch her) she always knows exactly where he is and never lets down her guard.
With one exception.
Bobby's got a few plastic balls that came with a toy. Like so many toys, the main part is less interesting than the peripherals. This one is a little box with holes in the top, a mallet, and four balls. You're supposed to pound on the balls with the mallet 'til they go through the holes and roll out the bottom. This is a little advanced for him, but the mallet is fun and the balls are fun.
Penelope agrees. Penelope drops all inhibition when she sees Bobby holding onto these prized toys and sidles right up to him. She waits for him to let go of one, then snags it and races around the room dribbling it. Bobby thinks that's funny, so he chases her. Thanks to the slant of our living room floor, the ball periodically rolls back to Bobby, so they actually end up playing together.
Until the ball rolls under the couch.
Mom
posted by Katy Mathias at
9:58 PM
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