I mentioned in my last post how Morgan loves to enter the red toy bin and use it as her Fortress Of Solitude. Well, Liam decided he wanted to see what the big deal was, and it became - A TURF WAR!
Yes, as the pictures will prove, there was a battle for control of the Fortress Of Solitude. Now, Morgan has been known on many occasions to rip toys out of Liam's hands while he's playing with them. Liam has a tendency - at least, to this point - to not fight back, but instead to whine and cry a little, and then move on to another toy, giving up on that which initially was making him happy.
HOWEVER - Just the other day, he made (what I consider) a brilliant move in his favour, which I witnessed from my vantage point on the 'recovery couch'...
Liam had been playing with some nesting blocks. First, you need to know how much he likes these things. Janne noticed they were a favourite of his when she spotted him almost always running to them every day when she'd drop him off at daycare. So, we got some for him to play with at home.
On this occasion, Morgan (as usual) sees Liam enjoying himself, and decides to break up his fun by grabbing either some or all of the blocks out of his hands, and taking them to another part of the room. Sometimes, she just drops them somewhere so he can't have them momentarily, while on others she'll hoard them so he can't just walk over and pick them back up from wherever she's stashed them. This time, she has chosen to move them to the centre of the room, and continues to play with them.
Here's the good part. Liam, in his wisdom, grabs a ride-on car from within her view. The ride-on car is one of her favourites, and she often pushes it around, rides on it, or sometimes even puts other toys on it, and will taxi them around the living room. Liam pulls the car behind her, as if he's going to the other end of the room. Morgan turns, gives Liam a nudge, and in one motion pushes his hand off the rear handle of the car, and grabs it herself. Liam, completely unfazed by this, walks away from Morgan and the car, circles back to the nesting blocks on the floor, and picks them up - and all is right in his world again.
My son, at the tender age of 19 months, and through his own ingenuity-bred-through-necessity, has learned - and successfully perfomed - the bait-and-switch.
Maybe his entrance to Morgan's Fortress Of Solitude is another way of expressing that he's not going to stand by and take it anymore, or maybe he was just curious to see what was so special about it. In any case, here are the rest of the Fortress Battle pictures, including Janne's intervention when Morgan started getting too upset. Morgan will often sit on Liam and not let him up (and he doesn't fight back - at least, he hasn't yet), or she'll just start slapping him in the head. No, I'm not kidding.
And another thing...
They both like to 'portage' their foam chairs around the living room (they walk while holding them over their heads, as if carrying a canoe over land), and have recently decided that they want to sit where Mummy and Daddy usually sit - except, on their own chairs. Neither Janne nor myself placed the chairs on the couch for them. Although we can offer no photographic proof, this is something they do on their own. I have named this picture after one of their favourite TV shows, Big Comfy Couch.
FINALLY -
Thanks for asking, Bob, and - for anyone else who's been wondering - my surgeon told me yesterday at the fracture clinic that my recovery progress is "better than most", (bearing in mind that he has replaced the hip of a 39-year-old former CFL'er, among others) and I suspect I may make it back to work early - as in, next Monday, a week sooner than expected. Not bad, eh? ...just five weeks after surgery.
Yes, as the pictures will prove, there was a battle for control of the Fortress Of Solitude. Now, Morgan has been known on many occasions to rip toys out of Liam's hands while he's playing with them. Liam has a tendency - at least, to this point - to not fight back, but instead to whine and cry a little, and then move on to another toy, giving up on that which initially was making him happy.
HOWEVER - Just the other day, he made (what I consider) a brilliant move in his favour, which I witnessed from my vantage point on the 'recovery couch'...
Liam had been playing with some nesting blocks. First, you need to know how much he likes these things. Janne noticed they were a favourite of his when she spotted him almost always running to them every day when she'd drop him off at daycare. So, we got some for him to play with at home.
On this occasion, Morgan (as usual) sees Liam enjoying himself, and decides to break up his fun by grabbing either some or all of the blocks out of his hands, and taking them to another part of the room. Sometimes, she just drops them somewhere so he can't have them momentarily, while on others she'll hoard them so he can't just walk over and pick them back up from wherever she's stashed them. This time, she has chosen to move them to the centre of the room, and continues to play with them.
Here's the good part. Liam, in his wisdom, grabs a ride-on car from within her view. The ride-on car is one of her favourites, and she often pushes it around, rides on it, or sometimes even puts other toys on it, and will taxi them around the living room. Liam pulls the car behind her, as if he's going to the other end of the room. Morgan turns, gives Liam a nudge, and in one motion pushes his hand off the rear handle of the car, and grabs it herself. Liam, completely unfazed by this, walks away from Morgan and the car, circles back to the nesting blocks on the floor, and picks them up - and all is right in his world again.
My son, at the tender age of 19 months, and through his own ingenuity-bred-through-necessity, has learned - and successfully perfomed - the bait-and-switch.
Maybe his entrance to Morgan's Fortress Of Solitude is another way of expressing that he's not going to stand by and take it anymore, or maybe he was just curious to see what was so special about it. In any case, here are the rest of the Fortress Battle pictures, including Janne's intervention when Morgan started getting too upset. Morgan will often sit on Liam and not let him up (and he doesn't fight back - at least, he hasn't yet), or she'll just start slapping him in the head. No, I'm not kidding.
And another thing...
They both like to 'portage' their foam chairs around the living room (they walk while holding them over their heads, as if carrying a canoe over land), and have recently decided that they want to sit where Mummy and Daddy usually sit - except, on their own chairs. Neither Janne nor myself placed the chairs on the couch for them. Although we can offer no photographic proof, this is something they do on their own. I have named this picture after one of their favourite TV shows, Big Comfy Couch.
FINALLY -
Thanks for asking, Bob, and - for anyone else who's been wondering - my surgeon told me yesterday at the fracture clinic that my recovery progress is "better than most", (bearing in mind that he has replaced the hip of a 39-year-old former CFL'er, among others) and I suspect I may make it back to work early - as in, next Monday, a week sooner than expected. Not bad, eh? ...just five weeks after surgery.
