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However, is superseded by: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

Okay, This One Might Actually Be My Fault

So I was playing with the Gremlin a few days ago, and he was getting frustrated trying to open a bottle of Vitamin Water. He's able to get caps and lids off, but he had yet to figure out how to unscrew things, and it was hysterical watching him, because he would get angry with it after about two minutes of trying, throw the bottle and cap, and then realize that he wanted to figure it out and crawl after it. Very convenient if you're trying to watch season 3 of Boston Legal, and you don't want a 10 month old grabbing your legs trying to get you to pick him up. So he works at it, throws the bottle, and goes after it again.

Anyway, I was playing with him two days ago, and he was playing with the bottle. So I figured that if I showed him a little about how it worked, it would keep him interested (read: occupied). So I took his hands and showed him how to unscrew the cap on the Vitamin Water bottle. I didn't think too much about it for the rest of the night, he didn't go for the bottle for the rest of the day.

I came home yesterday, and was lucky enough to drop my keys and have to bend over as soon as I came in the door as a shoe flew at my head.

"What were you doing with the Gremlin yesterday?" the Mother of the Gremlin was standing there, second shoe in hand, the Gremlin in her other arm with his 'innocent' face on.
"Um, nothing. Why?"
"He figured out how to unscrew his bottle today, as well as the Desitin cap." I tried as hard as I could, but I couldn't keep the chuckle from coming up. I ducked again as a shoe flew over my head.
"I might have been showing him how to screw the cap back on the Vitamin Water bottle."
"Oh good, that means you can clean up the 8oz of forumla he just dumped in his room."

Dang.

I hate it when he gets that look in his eye

He definitely has a look that he gets when he's sitting there figuring things out. He doesn't move, is quiet, and just stares at what it is he's trying to figure out. He did it twice last night. He's finally grasped the concept of lids and caps. Specifically the caps of bottles that we give him (that he has previously not been able to get into, but would spend hours trying). And last night he figured it out with a bottle of grape Vitamin Water. We didn't pay any attention to him staring at us looking for towels to clean the mess up with.

Well, as it was his bathtime anyway, he was quickly transported into the tub, and the mess was cleaned up. After his bath, he was dried off, and the towel was hung on the handle of the bathroom door (which we keep closed due to the amount of small items and chemicals kept in there). So again, he sat patiently and waited for his moment of unsupervision. 15 seconds was all it took him after I went to go clean the kitchen, and the Mother of the Gremlin went to get his room ready for bedtime. He staggered over to the bathroom door, and used the towel hanging over the handle to gain access to...THE BATHROOM. Free in his domain he immediately focused on... wait, was that the refrigerator door, or the door to his room?! Maybe it had... FOOD! And he exited the bathroom, grasping his conquest - a bottle of Old Spice Shower Gel.

As he stumbled into the kitchen and I saw him gnawing furiously on the bottom of the Old Spice container, I realized that he had seen us opening the bathroom door, and figured out that he could use the towel hanging off it as a lever/extension of the handle. All this and he still refuses to start talking...