Quick Takes (volume 16)

--1--

For my New Year's Resolution, I decided to write down one memory a day in a diary. I haven't been very good at memory-keeping in general recently (obviously not here, but not in other ways either--I've hardly even been taking pictures!), so I thought this would be a simple way to do it. And, I hope that next year, I can continue to use the same diary, adding a new 2014 entry below 2013's, so we will be able to look back and remember what was going on this year.

You can see where this is going, right? I have not been doing well keeping up with this goal. It took me almost a month to even buy a diary, then another week or two to remember to write in it for the first time. Now I usually remember to write in it every 4th day or so, and have to try and remember things that happened. :/

But, I am writing down memories, even if not every day, and I will be so glad that I did in years to come. So, glass half full, right?

--2--

The whole first take is a round-about way of saying, I am totally going to be plagiarising myself from my diary onto these here quick takes (and probably in the future as well) so that I have something to share with you all.  

--3--

My birthday is coming up this weekend. 30. Can. not. believe it. I'm pretty sure I am not yet an adult, despite the marriage and kid and house thing, so I'm not quite sure how I am turning 30. Mostly I'm not too concerned about the milestone-y-ness of it, although a little bit of me is freaking out inside. Not really sure why, as I am pretty happy with how these first three decades have turned out, but. You know. 30!?!

--4--

We're planning on going to London on Saturday, to see the Science Museum (as I have never been) and probably take Gus to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum as well. We'll see how long we spend in the first one, though, and how we're feeling before going into the dinosaurs. That is the awesome thing about museums in London--many of them are free, so you don't feel like you have to spend all day in there, to the point of exhaustion and crankiness, to get your money's worth. I think it will be good.

Plus, I am planning on getting lunch at the Real Food Market at Southbank Centre (mmm, posh street food) and dinner at Mildred's vegetarian restaurant in Soho.  It is going to be an awesome day :)

--5--

Gus is just excited because we will be going on a bus, a train, and an underground train on Saturday.

He has obviously heard me say (many times, probably) that he loves buses. One day last week I told someone that, and he added "And trains and tractors and trucks." Now he regularly tells me what he loves, whether those things, or certain books, or (kind of randomly) the orange fish on a blanket. Good that he knows what he likes!

--6--

building, with the machines in the background

I mentioned in my last post that Gus was playing trains non-stop. Well, since then, he has moved on to Bob the Builder. All day long, all I hear is "Let's fix something! Let's get to work! Can we fix it?" He's been watching (too much of) the show as well, so we are always repairing Mr Bentley's cottage or asking Farmer Pickles to help. It is quite amusing, although quite tiring to sit and watch / play with him for hours and hours is exhausting. He has spent the last couple weeks in a particularly needy phase. While I can acknowledge intellectually that it is just a phase and he needs me close for a particular reason of development or some such thing, emotionally, I just want to scream "Give me 5 minutes of peace!!!" Thankfully, he actually let me do things for short periods today while he played by himself, so we might be returning to a balance that is a bit easier for me.

--7--

Outside, Gus has been busy digging for bones everywhere we go. My goodness, can this boy get dirty! He lies down on the ground, just to get a really good look, and digs with his hands or a nearby stick. Luckily, he, and his clothes, wash clean (more or less). And really, we can't let a bit of dirt stand in the way of important discoveries, can we?

watching Bob the Builder with Dizzy

Hope you have a lovely weekend!  As always, check out Jen for more Quick Takes! 

Quick Takes (volume 15)

--1--

I'm probably going to jinx it by typing this, but I think Gus is potty trained. We started in November, and had some difficulties, but were doing pretty well by the time we went to the USA for Christmas. Then we had a bit of a disaster for three weeks, brought about by the combination of being out of our normal routine, jet lag and general tiredness, too much fun to be had, and probably an overly strict pottying schedule. So when we got back home in January (after the jet lag) we had a bit of a restart, where we let Gus actually experience what a full bladder felt like, and I really, really, tried to trust Gus when he said he did or did not have to pee. And within about 3 weeks, he was consistently asking to go potty, usually in time to actually get onto the potty. So glad we did it, but probably one of the hardest things we have done since becoming parents. Definitely wish we had done better at trusting and listening to Gus from the beginning of it, rather than just planning to do that, but it all came good in the end. And I don't think he is too scarred from the process!

--2--

Two of my favourite quotations from Gus during our potty learning adventure:

• "Big boys do not use the potty!"
• (As Jon is dressing Gus after Gus had an accident and did not want to sit on the potty) "I'm going to pee in the black trousers next." And sure enough, he peed in them less than five minutes later!

--3--

new haircut

Enough with the potty talk.  Next item in the "big boy" news category: we have cut Gus's hair! After the last time we tried to cut his hair (last May!) where he cried so much I had to stop the haircut after only a few minutes (and half done), I was too scared to take him again. We've cut his bangs (fringe) a couple of times since then, and that has been pretty much fine, so he has probably been ready for a while. And I actually did get up the courage to do it one day in the fall, and the salon I wanted to go to was closed for the day! So we went a few weeks ago. He climbed up on the chair, held a Percy train toy in one hand, ate a snack with the other, and looked out the window at the buses going past. And he was fine! He looked a bit unsure about it, but not upset, and I tried to stay really positive and upbeat about it. It was really not a big deal. We went out for lunch after, and two strangers called him a boy!  I generally didn't mind when people called him a girl (although it was beginning to bother Jon), but even I thought that getting called "Princess" multiple times on our journey to the US was a bit much. He also looks so much older now. Yikes!

--4--

It was Ash Wednesday this week. I noticed something while I was fasting this week. I cannot remember the last time I actually felt hungry and didn't immediately search out something to eat. We are so blessed to be able to have (mostly) nutritious food available at any time and place, but it is definitely something I take for granted. And really, the hunger that I felt was based on eating three small but adequate meals over the course of the day. A lot more than many people get. 

--5--

Also on the topic of food: I am taking an online course through Coursera.org on the American Food System and Public Health. It is so interesting. I am only halfway through the 6-week course, so there's a lot left to learn. But so far, I have been astonished by the amount of water and energy that it takes to grow our food, saddened by the deterioration of precious farmland that is happening due to intensive farming practices, and kind of grossed out by descriptions of industrial meat production. Of course, I'm already a vegetarian, so that last one is kind of to be expected. The real focus of this course is how the way our food is produced affects the health of the country, especially through "externalities" of the food production process, such as pesticide use affecting people living in rural communities, antibiotics in meat contributing towards antibiotic-resistance bacteria causing human illness, and how the health of future generations might be affected by the way we grow food now, among other things. However, our food and farming policy is not influenced by health concerns, although what we eat is intimately linked to our health. I hope that the next three weeks also include some solutions for how we can move toward a more sustainable system. I really do have a lot of thoughts on this topic--I should write a whole post about it!

--6--

just before his haircut, playing matching game

Gus seems to be playing trains all day every day at the moment. He still loves buses (loves them! one of his other favourite activities is to look at pictures on buses on Google images), but the main characters of his recent games are two engines that he calls James and Emily. He plays with Emily, and I usually have to be James. They travel all around the living room, pulling coaches, going through tunnels, meeting buses, resting in the shed, etc. It is so funny to listen to. As you might guess, he has also been watching Thomas and Friends, and sometimes I can hear lines from the show in his commentary, although often he makes his own stories as well. 

--7--

I'll leave you with a recent tidbit from Gus. When he was told it was time to get ready for bed, he responded,

The only option is to play!!

Have a happy weekend! And don't forget to check out Jen's for more quick takers.

What's new with Gus

Gosh, I do not know why it has been so long since I last wrote anything here. I do know, however, that every day I spend not writing makes it harder to write an update on what Gus is up to these days. So, I am going to take 10 minutes and write what I can by way of update. Let's go!

Gus is such a chatterbox. He really does talk nonstop. He is always surprising me by picking up new little phrases and things. Yesterday, we were watching youtube videos of The Wheels on the Bus (he loves this so much), and I asked him which vid was his favourite. He just answered, "Don't know." I thought to myself, when did you start sounding like such a grown-up person?!  I also love it when you ask him something and he responds no, like that was the most ridiculous question in the world, and obviously the answer is no. He is just so funny.

Cars and trucks and buses have overtaken animals as his favourite thing, I think. Buses in particular seem to be well-loved, and he gets very excited by the idea of Jon riding the "big green bus" home from work. Similarly, his favourite book at the moment is Richard Scary's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. Which he identifies by name. This book can keep him busy for ages. There are so many pictures in the book, and each one tells a little story. And he narrates every. single. one.  Luckily, I don't always have to read it with him. There is one page with a massive pile-up, and the other day I was in the next room from Gus while he was reading, and I just heard him say "Oh no! Two cars fall down!"

His pronunciation of various sounds and words is getting much better, which makes me a bit sad. The word shoes actually sounds the way it is meant to be pronounced, rather than being a string of sounds that could not be replicated by anyone else. And I heard him use the word chicken instead of cluck-cluck a couple of times this week. Oh, they do grow up fast!  And I don't take nearly enough videos of him talking!

He's also started doing the actions that go along with songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Wind the Bobbin Up. He is quite a shy little guy, though, and you can especially see that when we go to somewhere like Rhyme Time at the library. At home, he shouts instructions about which song or verse to sing next and does actions and is generally really engaged when we sing songs together. When we are in a group, though, he just sits quietly on my lap, hardly even smiling, just watching all the other kids and their parents. He does seem to enjoy it, but I guess he likes to observe more than jump into the middle of things. Not too much unlike his Mama, actually.

Wow, that actually took 20 minutes, and I feel like I've only touched the surface!  I'll leave you with some pictures from this month.

Another favourite pasttime. I am definitely not complaining!

A vintage bus show. Gus was in Heaven!! (even if it doesn't look it by his expression)

Wading in the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in London

Looking out the front door at the truck and cars

Painting

Multitasking--vacuuming the back yard while on the phone

Lifting weights with Pa

Driving a fire truck. Why can I never get a picture of him smiling?!

What's new with Gus

It seems like every other week Jon and I talk about how Gus is learning so much and picking things up more quickly than he has before, as well as how much fun the little guy is. This week has been no different.

Gus continues to makes leaps and bounds in his language development. Last time I talked about how he had started to put together two-word phrases. Now he regularly is using two- and even three-word sentences. Along with that, more verbs and other words are entering his vocabulary; just yesterday, he started adding too to the end of sentences: "Grandma come too".

He has also picked up a lot of phrases that Jon and I use, and it is the sweetest little thing.  I first noticed him saying "Ooo-kay!" last week, just like I always say. Next came "Dear me!"; it took me a while to figure out where that one came from, as I was pretty sure that I didn't say it. Apparently it is a regular part of Jon's vocabulary, though. I've also heard "Oh dear" and "Oopsy-daisy" (or oop-day, as he is more apt to pronounce it). It is really cute to hear Gus say things that we regularly say, but it does remind you to watch what you say in front of him. The other day, Jon and I were watching something on television, and Supernanny came on before we got round to turning the tv off. We started talking about spanking, when all of a sudden we hear Gus saying "Tan hide. Tan hide." Oh dear! I knew that Jon sometimes says the phrase "tan your hide" in a joking manner, as he thinks it's a really funny Americanism. But I didn't realise that Gus had picked up on it, or really knew what it meant. We're not into corporeal punishment here, and it is not really a phrase that I want Gus going about saying!

Gus is starting to get the hang of quantities. He says two whenever he sees more than one of something.  I try to say something like "yes, there are a lot of cars there", but he does like me to repeat exactly what he says. So if we see four cars, he'll keep repeating "Two cars. Two cars" until I also say "two cars". I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough, but it seems wrong to me to reinforce incorrect usage.  He has also started saying one. It's kind of funny that he started saying two first, but I guess there is no need to point out one of something until you can wrap your head around the concept that there might be more than one. Other is another common word at the moment.

He is starting to pick up sounds that he previously wasn't able to pronounce, but he is definitely still in the stage where only Jon and I can understand a lot of what he says. And even then, it is not a guarantee. There are times when he is obviously just playing around with sounds and not trying to say a specific word (lately he has been having fun with dubba-dubba-dubba), but there are also times when he repeats something over and over and I have no idea what it might be. I throw out guesses, and he just looks at me--you know he is wondering what in the world I am talking about and wondering why I can't just do whatever it is he is asking!

It has been raining every day for the last week or two here, so we have had a lot of indoor play recently. I got out the play-dough one day last week, and Gus loved it. We had done a bit of play-dough before, but it hadn't really captured his interest. This, week, though, he has spent hours with it. He just loves chopping it up with a little butter knife, often while saying "Chop chop chop". He has also had some good fun pouring puffed wheat cereal from one bowl to another and colouring with crayons. Well, I do most of the colouring. He picks a crayon out of the box, we say the colour, I colour with it a little bit, then he tells me to put it down on the table. Good times. Surprisingly, he is starting to be able to identify some colours. Orange is the one he knows best, probably because he loves to eat oranges, so that makes it a bit easier. Blue and green are pretty good, probably right more than half the time, but they get mixed up easily between them.

hours of fun!

He also, very surprisingly, can identify the letter G. I didn't realise that we had pointed it out that much to him, but apparently we had. He has a little wooden G in his basket of toys, and one day he just picked it up and said "G Gus". I thought it was a fluke, but he has repeated it with other blocks and things that have Gs on them as well, so I guess he knows it. Although I think he recognises it the way he can recognise a picture of a duck or something like that, rather than having an understanding that it is a letter that makes up words to read and write. It still was kind of cool, though.

One funny thing he has been doing this week is walking on his knees. I have no idea where he picked it up--maybe Jon or I do it when we are down on the floor with him? Or maybe he just figured it out for himself. Either way, it is pretty funny to see him shuffling around on his knees, arms out to balance, usually while saying "Walk knees. Walk knees". It's a good family game as well, walking on our knees, then falling down and making a big deal of it. Falling down always makes kids laugh :)

we've also been walking in the rain and splashing in the puddles!

Gus is really getting the hang of people's names. Jon's aunt and uncle came over one day last week, and Gus had never said their names before. Within a couple of minutes, though, he was using their names over and over. I thought, well, he knows them, so it is not surprising that he started saying their names. Yesterday, though, we were staying with my in-laws, and their neighbour girls, Maisy and Alice, came over to see Gus. He had a great time with them. At dinner that evening, we were all talking about the girls, and I hear Gus say "Mai bye-bye. Al bye-bye." I was really impressed that he knew exactly who we were talking about and remembered them. I don't know why I was surprised, though--he usually has a better memory than I do!

I could probably go on and on, but I think there comes a point where any additional anecdotes are only interesting to my mom!  Till next time :)

What's New with Gus

Another instalment of what Gus has been up to recently!

Language

Gus has been in the midst of a language explosion recently.  He loves to talk to anybody who will listen (usually me!).  Or, if no one is around, he just plays with his toys, narrating as he goes along. The other day I was washing dishes while he was in the living room playing, and all I could hear was a rapid-fire string of animal names and sounds, one after the other. He obviously was having a very exciting game!

Up till recently, most of his vocabulary has been nouns, but I have noticed this week a sprinkling of verbs and adjectives as well. Big is a favourite at the moment, and he's always pointing out the big truck and the big ball. I am not sure if he can just pick out things that I have already described as big, or if he is applying it to things independently, but either way, it’s pretty sweet. He can even say the phrase, although it often sounds like two different sentences: “Big. Duck.” There are a couple of other “phrases” I’ve noticed recently as well. Jon was in the back yard yesterday, and Gus said “Pa. Back.” And he always says “Buh-bye ducks” when we leave the lake and asks for “More. Apple.” at snack time. Again, not sure if they are novel phrases, repeating of phrases he has heard, or just a collection of thoughts thrown together, but it is definitely showing a fascinating progression in his understanding and use of language.

When Jon gets home from work, he will usually talk to Gus about his day, asking what he did and saw while Pa was away. Gus seems to understand the question, or at least can rattle off a litany of things that he sees on his daily walks: “Lake. Ducks. Geese. Swan. Boat. Car. Truck. Van. Cluck-cluck [chicken].” You know, all of his favourite things. There have been several days this week where a walk is the first thing he asks for when we get down the stairs in the morning, desperate to go and search them all out.

Gus has recently learned how to say his name and often will point to each one of us in turn: “Mama. Pa. Gus!” We went to a wedding this weekend, and anytime someone took an interest in him (or maybe even when they didn’t—I am pretty sure he started talking to the lady across the aisle from us on the train completely on his own accord!) he would introduce himself by pointing at himself and proudly stating “Gus!”. Of course, when he says it, it only sounds vaguely like Gus (both G’s and S’s are a bit difficult for him still), so people didn’t always understand, but they sure became enamoured with him pretty quickly after that!

Social interactions

After what seemed like months of Gus needing me right next to him almost all the time, I realised this week that he hasn’t really done that in ages. He is actually becoming very confident, both with other people and in exploring the world on his own. It has gotten to the point where, when we are out for a walk, wandering on the fields, it is a toss-up about whether Gus is going to come back before Jon and I feel the need to chase after him. And at both the weddings we’ve been to this month, he has been more than happy to play with or talk to anyone who gave him the slightest glance. There were a load of kids at this latest wedding, and he spent a lot of time spinning on the grass with the toddlers and running up and down the halls with some older children.

In general, Gus seems to really like it when other children are around. He has two friends that we meet up with most weeks, and he kept talking about them after they left our house last week. That evening, we were reading a book, and Gus pointed to the little girl in a picture, clearly saying “Hattie!”, his friend’s name. He is very particular about how he plays with his toys, though, and it seems that other children don’t always understand his rules. We were at a children’s centre for a toddler group a week or two ago, and they have a dozen or so realistic animal figurines. He spent half the time we were there moving them from the window sill to the floor and back again. He was not, however, very happy if any of the other children came and moved an animal. I always say “Oh! You are playing with the toys together!” or something along those lines, trying to convince him that it can be fun. He doesn't seem so sure. (I don’t think children his age understand the concept of sharing yet, and generally shouldn't be forced to share, but I also feel kind of bad if he is playing with so many toys at one time, not allowing any other children a chance to play with them. So I am trying to find a balance there!)

Helping Hand

We have been having glorious weather lately, so I have been able to hang the washing out on the line to dry. I was taking some dry clothes down the other day, folding them and putting them in the basket. Gus was helping by taking clothes off the airer and putting them in the basket. He then insisted that we take the basket into the house, where he proceeded to take every piece out and stuff them into the wash machine. He shut the door and started turning dials and pressing buttons, trying to start the machine! He is a great helper, although not always in the ways I think I need help. (And those clothes are still in the basket as I write this, since I haven’t found the time or energy to fold them a second time. Oh well!)

He continues to enjoy helping me cook. Today while cooking dinner, he spent ages trying to peel some carrots, then proceeded to put all the scraps in the waste bin, one by one. Last week, Gus and I made hot cross buns together, which was really fun. I had woken up in a bit of a bad mood and decided to do some baking right after breakfast. Gus climbed right up on his stool and helped with the pouring, stirring, and shaping (and, of course, sampling of the raisins and making of the mess!). It was amazing how much better I felt after spending some good quality time with him! 

What's up, Gus?

We've been having such a good time over in our little neck of the woods lately, I haven't had time to write!  Well, we'll say that's what's happened, and ignore my very strong tendency to laziness and procrastination. ;)

play-dough time!

In all honesty, Gus has been a riot recently. We do have our moments of him not letting me move more than 6 inches away from his side (he likes to grab my hand, direct me to where I should be, and point to the exact spot on the floor where I should sit), but for the most part we have been having a lot of fun together. He loves to do anything that Jon and I do, so we take care of the baby doll a lot, feeding her, changing her diaper, cleaning her up. He will clean anything, actually. The moment he finds a scrap of cloth, he sets about scrubbing things down. I keep thinking about giving him a real cleaning cloth so he can help me with do the housework, but he is a bit erratic about what he cleans; he jumps from scrubbing the table, to the bottom of the shoes, to his hands, feet and face in the space of a minute.

playing with the balls and rainbow on the stairs

His brain seems to move just as quickly. Jon and I will  be talking and mention something--say a train--briefly, and Gus is off like a light to find his train and bring it to us. And he always knows where is toys are squirrelled away. Except for one bouncy ball that he loves to play with. The ball is clear with coloured stars suspended inside it, and we are forever losing that thing. Balls are one of his favourite toy at the moment. He's been throwing them down the stairs, bouncing them out in the back yard, and rolling them under the rainbow tunnels. The train and bus get plenty of time through the tunnels as well.

at the park

As always, Gus is still loving his animals. He seems to go through phases of what is his favourite. So for a week or two all I heard about was the chickens, then the cat, and now the pigs. He likes to look for these animals outside (well, we haven't found any pigs yet), play with the little animal toys and stuffed animals, and flip through books, searching for his favourite animals. He knows exactly which books have the animals he is looking for, and it seems like he even knows what page they are on!  (I was wondering the other day, what is the fascination of opening up the same book a hundred times in a row, always to flip to and stare at the same picture? I'd love to know what is going on in his brain!)

playing with ducks, distracted by an airplane

Gus is a real chatterbox at the moment, as well. I swear he learns new words every day, but, since he can only pronounce about half of any given word, and often with an incorrect sound thrown in, I am not sure that too many people can actually understand what he is saying. He can say a load of animal names and sounds, and mostly correctly! Cartoon-like animals can be tough, really, and I don't blame him when he thinks a drawing of a skunk is a dog or a Tigger stuffed animal is a monkey. He also loves vehicles of all sorts, so he can say (versions of) plane, car, truck, bus, and choo choo train.


Bedtime is one of our favourite times of the day at the moment. We usually have to read about fifty books, and it often takes longer than I would otherwise wish, but Gus makes up for it by giving Jon and me loads of hugs and kisses before finally settling down to sleep. Delaying tactic? Maybe. But also pretty much the sweetest thing in the world.

this way, Pa!

random thoughts

I had a dream last night that I was doing some calculus. This, to me, was not a nightmare. It was more like a wish. I often wish that I had a reason to do mathematical calculations: calculus, algebra, geometry, whatever you've got. 

***

I'm reading a very amusing book called The Etymologicon. It is about where various words come from, making links between (seemingly) totally unconnected words. Definitely recommended for any logophiles out there!

***

Gus can finally say Pa!  Up to now he has had a hard time with the "p" sound; it usually came out like an "m". But yesterday, he said it load and clear. Jon was very happy :)

***

It snowed here on Saturday, but it is almost gone now. We went out for a walk today, and of course I forget to put Gus's waterproof trousers on him. The number of times I have put them on him when it is almost completely dry, and today, with all the puddles, snow, and mud, I forget. Oh well. He didn't seem to mind the soaked cuffs too much.

***

I loved this post by Teacher Tom about coloring within the lines. An excerpt:

The paintings on the wall, the test scores, the grades only measure how well a child manages to stay within the lines, which is, after all, at best, a limited grounds upon which to form judgments. It tells us nothing, for instance, about what happens along the way.

I would love to raise children that understand society well enough to know when they need to colour in the lines, but are comfortable enough with themselves and their passions to scribble all over the page if that is how they feel at any given moment. Easy peasy, right?

***

 It's so fascinating watching Gus imitate the adults around him. Right now he is sweeping my kitchen floor as I type this. What a sweetie!

Feeding baby doll a breadstick.
He made sure she had plenty of water as well

Kitchen Play

I really would have liked to get Gus a play kitchen for Christmas, but it was unfortunately not in our gift-buying budget this year. I thought he would get a kick out of mixing things together, making tasty "treats" to serve up to Jon and me. And it would be a great long-term toy, something that would last for years.

Of course, then I realised this week, that he doesn't really need a purpose-built mini kitchen and matching accessories to cook up delicious concoctions. So I set out to find some pieces that could bring the fun of the kitchen to him.

So far, the backbone of his kitchen play has been this stainless steel mixing bowl.

I actually received a pair of these (small and large) for Christmas to use myself but, remembering Melissa's suggestion, thought that they would make a great matching set for Gus and I to use together.  He already has access to our lower cabinets, which have a load of bowls, chopping boards, and saucepans that he sometimes gets out. I added some empty spice jars, a whisk, a spatula, and some play food that he got for Christmas, and his kitchen was complete! He stands on his little table so he can reach the counter next to me. As I chop vegetables for dinner, I pass him the peels and ends, which he mixes up diligently, adding this spice or that, transferring from one bowl to the other. Or, I give him a small snack in the bowl, which he can mix and taste as needed.

Trying to find a clear space on the counter in our
little kitchen is the hardest part of this game!

To me, this doesn't sound nearly as exciting as a brand-new, brightly painted purpose-built model kitchen, with burners, an oven, cabinets to open, etc, etc. But I think sometimes the flashes and bangs are more for the parents--I mean, how many times have we heard the story of children opening expensive new presents, only to play with the cardboard box the toy came in until it disintegrates underneath them. We've only really been cooking together for a week now, but so far, Gus's reaction has borne this out. He seems to love cooking. He has even tried to pull the table in from the living room to the kitchen on his own to start playing. This is great, as it forces me into the kitchen to tackle the never-ending pile of dishes I have stacked in there!  (I am also trying to convince him that he can actually cook while standing on the floor with the bowls on his small table, but he doesn't believe me so far. He is going through a phase at the moment where the way a thing was done the first time is the way things ALWAYS MUST BE DONE FOREVER.)

I'll probably still keep an eye out for a good price on a little kitchen, but I am really happy with this solution. In some ways, this is even better, as it gets the two of us in the kitchen together, and he starts to learn about food and cooking--an important life skill, and a great source of enjoyment.