Learning "No"

When Fiona was about a year old, she was heading towards our cat Pepper's food bowl when my Mom was visiting. My Mom saw this, pulled Fiona away and said, "No, No, No."

Fiona would proceed back to the cat's food bowl, babbling, "No, No, No."

We think she must have thought "No" meant "Cat food."

Today I was trying to teach Paul the meaning of the word, "No."

He was crawling towards my folded laundry attempting to pick up some folded shirts. I would pull him away and say, "No."

He would try again.

I would pull him away again, and say, "No," and then I would give him some socks and say, "Play with socks."

This continued for a while. The third time I told him "No," he looked at me and smiled as if to challenge me. While I admired his determination, he made my job hard.

Finally I put him in his saucer, which I realize he is getting way too big for, but I find convenient, just like his car seat / carrier, which I am still using because he hasn't hit 20 lbs. yet.

He didn't like that at all.