There have been some Roman firsts that I have been meaning to blog about for some time now, and if I don't do it now before I talk about the Hancocks' trip down here I know I will forget to do so. So, first number one: Sign Language. I have not been super consistent with my signing with Roman, but one of the few signs we have been trying to teach him is the sign for "more." Think of making a gesture with your hands that looks like ducks kissing and you have the idea. Anyhoo, I do this every once in a while when he's eating, but, like I said, I am not super consistent. But apparently I do it often enough because Rome signed for the first time a couple Mondays ago. Roman was eating his lunch, and when he finished he started feverishly pointing at his palm. I thought he was annoyed by crumbs or something on his hands, so I asked if he was ready to wash his hands and face (which means that mealtime is over). But he shook his head and started pointing at the middle of his palm again. It took me a bit to figure out what he was trying to do, but then it hit me: he wants more. So I asked him if he wanted more, and he did his little excited shake dance that he does. So now we have our own sign for "more." We just point at our palm instead of making ducks kiss, because really the idea here is that he can communicate what it is he wants even if it's not a real sign.
First number two: Time-Out. Yep. You read that right. Roman had to have a time-out a couple weeks ago. Three actually. Roman has taken to trying to slap us when it's time to change his diaper. Cute, right? He hates diaper changing time, and I get it. If I were him, I would probably rather play with my trucks, too, but that attitude is simply not going to fly around here. At first we told Roman "no" and grabbed his hands. When he was done freaking out we would ask him to give us a kiss and say sorry (obviously he can't say sorry yet, but I figure asking for an apology is a good thing to start doing early). Well, the smart little bugger started giving preemptive kisses followed by a slap, or he would slap and immediately give us a kiss. Marc and I aren't sure how exactly his brain was working on this one (it's okay to slap as long as I also give a kiss, or a slap is always followed by a kiss), but we figured that we shouldn't encourage this kind of BDSM behavior in a child so young. Oh, I should also note that Roman finds it hilarious when we try to use our serious-parent-scolding-voices, so that wouldn't work. When a 16 month old laughs when he's supposed to feel reprimanded, you know you're doing it wrong. And since spanking is out of the question in this house (because teaching a kid not to hit by hitting him is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of), we have turned to time-outs. He hit me the other day and gave me a kiss, and I looked at him and said, "You are not allowed to hit," and put him in his crib and walked out of the room. I counted to 15 and then walked back in the room. You would have thought I had abandoned him for hours in there. He was crying real tears and there was snot and everything. 15 seconds. He was alone for 15 seconds. So I grabbed him and told him that it was time to change his diaper and that he needed to calm down. We hugged for a bit, and then he let me change his diaper without another peep. Apparently though, this first time-out was not enough because he had one more time-out with me and then one with Marc, but it does seem to have helped. There haven't been any slaps in the last week or so, even though he is still expressing his displeasure at diaper changing time. Some vocal protests I can handle, physical ones I cannot.
First number three: Farmers Market. There is actually an amazing farmers market in downtown Escondido every Tuesday afternoon. I had gone a few times a couple years ago when I happened to be getting my hair done or something downtown, but I had never made the trip just for that. A couple weeks ago, I decided that we should head over there for some fresh fruit and whatnot when Marc got home from work. I have not stopped raving about the fried rice since, and I am really, really hoping they're back this week. And Roman has scored all kinds of samples from the various vendors and some free mango slices from the nice ladies making tamales and tacos last week. It's a really nice way to get out of the house and spend some time with Marc during the week. Tuesday has become farmers market night for us, and I love it, and so does Roman. All the fresh fruit he can eat? Count him in. I should also add that part of our first trips to the farmers market included our first stop at a little gelato place. Last week we tried the coconut, the peanut butter, and the blueberry. They were all delicious.
First number four: a Tricycle Ride. I joked on Facebook when I put up the picture of Rome and his trike that we must really be growing up because our drunken-trike-race tricycle has now been handed down to Roman. Marc had to fix the pedals because they were broken a few years back during a 4th of July party, and one day when Romey and I came home, Marc was waiting with a little surprise: the trike was ready. Rome was so excited! All he wanted to do was push it around, and then Marc showed him that he could actually ride it, and Roman was ecstatic. He probably won't be able to ride it by himself for at least a year (maybe less), but the look of excitement on Rome's face was just too much. He was such a happy boy.
