No is the new Black - Day 5

I have a toddler. With that comes lots of exercise from chasing him around the house. It brings lots of detective work in trying to decipher what it is he's trying to say. It attempts to teach patience when your loving child learns the word "no". It's cute at first, and usually meaningless. "Elliot, do you want to take a bath?" "No!" That I can handle, that makes sense to me. However the word "no" has taken on new meaning. "Elliot would you like some milk?" "No!" (As he's reaching for the milk). We thought that maybe he wasn't understanding the meaning of the word and was just enjoying saying it, but at least 8 times out of 10 he's right on target. At least we're getting a glimpse of what it will be like to have a defiant teenager! He's also turned into quite the climber. We have been child-proofing more and more as he gets bigger and to be quite honest, we're running out of places to put things so that they are out of his reach. This afternoon I was sitting on the couch and he was playing in the kitchen. He likes to bang on a metal chair in our kitchen, so I let him have his fun. Things for quiet for a minute and I turned to look in the kitchen. You can imagine my surprise when I saw Elliot's head over the half wall. It clicked to me that he was standing on something and could fall. I don't think I've ever moved faster than I did into the kitchen to snatch him before he fell off the chair. I then watched him a number of times climb on the metal chair to a standing position. My heart almost stopped. Now the metal chair must be folded when someone is not sitting in it. So scary! I guess this is what I have to get used to with boys. He has no fear!