Gaining Independence

Alexander has advanced so much in recent weeks. He is now insisting on spoon feeding himself (though I put the goods on the spoon for him -- just not ready to tackle that kind of mess yet). His language also seems to have exploded. Among his words are "dirty" (messy hands at the table or if he sees a little piece of paper on the floor, for example), "juice," "milk," "snack," "cheese," "yogurt," "all gone," "car," "snow," "Elmo" (his favorite word), "door," "wall," "doggie," "ball," "Amen" (after grace) and of course "no no."

Both children are also exceptionally smart or curious or bored or naughty -- something -- with regard to the electrical outlets. They figured out how to remove the plastic plug-in coverings. So I covered the entire outlet with Duct tape. No problem, the kids said. So yesterday I found a full plate fitted to cover the whole darn thing. Two little screws keep it in place. As long as the children don't get their hands on a screwdriver or a dime we should be OK.