Now Stay Away Redux

The Gremlin has decided that his signs were so effective (as his brother hasn't touched ANY of his toys yet...) that a disagreement he and I had today resulted in:

That's right, four new signs!

I should probably highlight the disagreement, first. For the first time since Pickle came to be with us, the Gremlin & Co. went to the grocery store. The haul was more than the Gremlin could ever imagine - ice cream sandwiches, fruit snacks, and more!

One of the things was a bottle of Vitamin Water (which the Gremlin was already accustomed to), purchased by the Mother of the Gremlin, who later realized that it was not her favorite flavor, but mine. She graciously gave it to me, and while she was napping with Pickle, I decided to share it with the Gremlin.

I should have realized from the signs made for Pickle that it wasn't going to work out, but between the sips I was taking and the cheek-busting mouthfuls the Gremlin was taking, the Vitamin water quickly disappeared. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this because I was doing the dishes.

I finally caught on, and snagged the bottle. The Gremlin saw there was one sip left, and he grabbed the bottle. I didn't want to emphasize that the strongest person wins, as that just sets up future confrontations, so I let go.

"Please do not drink the rest of my water." The Gremlin looked at me, and downed the last of it.

I was feeling rather petty at the time, so I turned to the freezer, pulled out a fudgecicle, and began eating it in front of the Gremlin. His eyes got wide.

"May I please have a fudgecicle?" The Gremlin asked, now on his best behavior.

"No. You did not listen to me when I asked you to not drink the rest of MY water that I was sharing with you, so I don't feel like sharing my fudgcicles with you." I sat down at the table and finished it off.

The Gremlin sat for a minute, and then promptly hopped off his chair, grabbed his markers, and headed for the scrap paper. By the time I was done, he was ready.

"Daddy, may I please have the tape?" I cut him off a few pieces, and went to go fix the MOTG's computer.

When I returned, I was walked through the following:

No eating fudgecicles

Followed by:

No eating ice cream sandwiches

Which was followed by the much more levelheaded:

No fighting over Vitamin Water

However, is superseded by:

No asking the Gremlin not to drink the last of the Vitamin Water

Definitely Evil Genius. Or Brilliant Klepto.

It's amazing what determined children can do, even when you are paying attention to them. Not that I fault him for this one, but the other day the Gremlin was being denied ice cream (I know, I'm an horrible father for not giving ice cream to my 11 month old). Another girl at the park had a stick of frozen deliciousness, and decided that it would be entertaining - as the Mother of the Gremlin and I were repeatedly telling him he couldn't have any - to put the ice cream in his face and pull it back just out of his reach. Her mother saw her doing this and even old her that she shouldn't do that, but the girl did it again and again.

As the girl turned to make sure her mother was watching her defiance, the Gremlin struck yet again with cut-bottle (cutthroat) accuracy. He grabbed her hand with one of his, and the ice cream with his other, pulling it from the stick and putting it in his mouth. He bit off, and swallowed over half the cone. While the girl cried, her mother, the MOTG, and I laughed as we attempted to clean the remains of the ice cream from the Gremlin's clothes (a futile effort in the end).

It seems he's also not afraid to work in front of a crowd. While we were at the park the other day, the darling little sprite was edging toward a family picnicking at one of the tables nearby. Sadly, we were too late to catch him from climbing under the table, but we saw he was moving straight through to the other side, and met him there. One of the most bizarre things happened, there, though. He emerged with a ham and turkey on white. Being able to see him, where he was going, and everything in front of him, it was astounding that he was able to acquire a sandwich from the picnicking family without them knowing, and without us seeing.

Once he got the basic skills down, there was nothing standing in the way of him using this on a larger scale. The MOTG found out yesterday while picking him up that the day care has a snack time. On special occasions the 'Child Care Specialists' were tasked with handing out treats - 3 small pieces of graham cracker to each child. And it seems that even though each 'Specialist' only has two infants to deal with, the apple of my eye managed to steal all the graham crackers that the other children were not holding, and put them in his bowl. There was a rash of cries that broke out, and only after realizing that my little darling was the only one not crying did they investigate and realize he had taken the rest of the graham crackers away from all the other children.

It was especially encouraging to hear the 'Child Care Specialist' - being as seasoned as they are to work in a very prestigious university/hospital's day care - explain how the 11 month old child threw such a fit (apparently he has also learned to pinch and bite, as well as cry), that they decided to let him keep the graham crackers he conquered. Yeah, that's a great lesson for him to learn.