Better than sticks!

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Finn: [Indistinct babbling]
Cael: Finn says, "Dada."
Finn: [Indistinct babbling]
Cael: Finn says, "Yooka hooka!"

It's so much clearer now.

--

Finn: [Indistinct babbling]
Cael: No, Finn. You can't have the monkey.
Finn: [Indistinct babbling]
Cael: No, Finn!
Finn: [Indistinct babbling]
Cael: I'm going to put it over here.
Finn: [Indistinct babbling]
Cael: You can't have it!

Finn never actually crossed the room to Cael or stopped to look up from the toy he was playing with, but apparently he voiced his interest in stealing the monkey.

Turns out Finn has plenty of unpleasant and aggressive things to say. Cael is constantly having to go on the defensive! Poor baby.

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Not his best performance, but it's hard to get much filming done when Cael keeps taking the camera to smile at it.

Cael's walking video. A little more control (okay, a lot more) but this was taken when Cael was 15 days past his first birthday. Finn is still shy of 11 months.

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Yesterday, in anticipation of my mom's visit, I told Cael that when Clio barked it meant his grandma was here. I should have explained that better.

Cut to this morning:

"Bark, Clio! Bark! Bark and then grandma will be here!"

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They did this on their own. Two boys side-by-side, sharing sticks.

How could it possibly go wrong?

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For some reason, Cael had always been under the impression that he was incapable of getting out of his bed when he was alone in the room. He will bounce in and out of it during story time, but once we tucked him in and left the room, he was held there by some invisible force. When he woke up, he'd crawl up to the headboard and starting calling for me to come get him. This was incredibly convenient, as it meant naps and nights didn't end until I decided they could.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. After a year of bliss, Cael has managed to disable our secret shield. He now hops out of bed at will. You can hear the door knob turn on the monitor and then the door opens into the living room and Cael is standing there, Monkiki, Hop Hop, Meow and Blankie in arms. He proudly proclaims, "Mama! I had a good nap!" and bounds over to the couch. Or, in the morning, he will say, "The orange moon waked up!"

The "orange moon" is actually the sun portion of the Good Nite Lite. Luckily, this little baby was introduced before his new-found mobility and he knows that he has to wait for the sun to come out before he can start roaming. Unfortunately, he only obeys the "don't get out of bed when the blue moon is up" rule after a night of sleep. Until he's crashed, he feels free to come and see us in the evening.

This afternoon when we put him down for a nap, he tried a new trick. We put him down, walked out of the room, closed the living room door, and about 20 seconds later he showed up, friends in hand and an "I had a nice nap!" on his lips. We put him back in bed, turned around, and another 20 seconds later he was back in the living room, having enjoyed his brief slumber.

This evening, he got out of bed twice immediately after story time to tell me he wanted to go potty. The second time, as you can imagine, he didn't actually have to go. That happens when you go 2 minutes prior.

After I'd tucked him in again, reminding him that he had his chances at potty for the evening, I headed to the kitchen to grab a drink. When I closed the refrigerator and turned around, there was Cael, a huge grin on his face. "Cael!" I said, "You cannot get out of bed again until you see the sun!"

"But, Mama!" he says, still grinning, "I had to smile at you!"

He's getting better at this.

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