The Adventures of Baby Arthur

by Lincoln

My little boy made me proud all weekend long. Among other things, he helped me set the table by transporting a bowl, ate his lunch nearly entirely by himself while I ate mine, and even walked to our newly erected Christmas tree to pose for a photograph when I asked him to.



Simple things yes, but the list of "He Did What?!" grows every day! In fact, I even negotiated a tantrum with him! When I took away the broom despite his screaming protestations, I picked him up a couple inches off the ground and sternly asked: "Do you want a timeout?" He nodded no, I put him down, and he calmed himself.

So what was the common denominator for Arthur's angel-like behaviour? Liz wasn't around! Ok, I'm exaggerating slightly.. of course Liz was present for the tree decorating and the broom incident was from sweeping up the pine needles! However, I do have a point! Arthur acts much differently with me than he does with Liz. When it's just me and the boy, there is order in the universe. We hang out, we do our thing, nap time is enforced and there's minimal whining. When Liz is around, the fits of neediness are definitely more frequent!

Alright, I know it's because Arthur is much more attached to his Mommy and seeks greater attention from her. As I rarely cave in to the whining, I do think there is something to the fact that I let Arthur get away with less (except for the cookies I gave him before his bedtime today, oops). But many of fascinating things that Arthur can do now, like pointing to his body parts, stomping his feet and shouting "hooray!", are a direct result of Liz's tutelage.

Nevertheless, I get a kick out of telling Liz she ruins everything whenever Arthur and I have a nice civilized time together!

Labels: fatherhood