He's quirky, and he's kooky

My dear friend Kelly's comment on my latest post about what a "character" my child is inspired me to write about some of the idiosyncrasies that make him uniquely Jack-Jack. She is not the first to have said this about him. Some of his quirks are funny, some of them are aggravating, some are both, but they are all part of what makes Jack is own little person.

Red teapot: Just the other day, Jack suddenly demanded a teapot. As luck would have it, we happened to have one on hand. As luck would NOT have it, the one we had was white, and Jack decided that he absolutely had to have a red one. (There is a picture of a red teapot in one of his books.) So, Daddy, being a sucker for his little boy, went to the local thrift shop and actually found a red teapot. However, it didn't have a top. We are trying to convince Jack that this is how it's supposed to be (or, in computer programmer parlance, "It's not a bug! It's a feature!"). He clearly doesn't really believe us, but he's playing along... for now.

Socks on hands: I don't know if it's because it was cold when we were up in the Bay Area, but while we were up there, Jack discovered how fun it was to pull his socks off his feet and put them on his hands. Not only is this unhygenic - toddlers' feet smell remarkably like, well, feet - it also means he's barefoot. After a few temper tantrums, we have learned to bring an extra pair of (clean) socks with us at all times so there are enough to cover all 20 of his digits.

Knife and fork and knife: Jack is still obsessed with cutlery. We let him play with the spoons, but we were trying to at least keep up the appearance of being safety-conscious by telling him he could only play with the forks and knives while sitting in his high chair. That worked for awhile until he got tall enough to open the silverware drawer himself. So now he pretty much pillages the flatware at will. (We do, however, remain firm that he not run while holding them.) Whenever he feels like playing with them, Jack will ask for "knife and fork and knife," just like that. In a restaurant, he demands them as soon as we are seated. And often, it is not enough that he have only one set - he must have at least two knives. In an ideal Jack-world, he would have all the knives, and no one else would have any.

Cups and watering can: Jack's favorite part of our weekly swimming lesson is playing with the plastic cups and duck-shaped watering can. He demands them as soon as we get in. The problem with giving them to him right away is that he will clutch them throughout the lesson and not actually swim. So I have to tell him every single time that he will get them after jumps, which is typically near the end of the class. Once he gets them, he fills the watering can with water and either decants it into one (or more) of the plastic cups or pours it onto the concrete surrounding the pool. Over and over again. It's like he is trying to empty out the pool one cup at a time. And then it's a fight every single time to get him out of the pool. It's to a point where I'm starting to wonder if going to these lessons is worth the weekly fight. We're sticking it out for now, but we may have to revisit this issue in the coming months.

Bathrooms: Yep, he still likes 'em. *sigh*

Oh, and today I sang the "Wild Wild West" song 30 times before I lost count. And I heard the "William Tell Overture" on kazoo at least 20 times. I hope little gremlins don't accidentally lose that DVD or oops! break it into pieces small enough to oops! drop into the garbage disposal tonight...