In an earlier post I detailed our struggle with teaching Max the word "no". I am pleased to announce that we have made some progress in this regard. Mostly, we have been attempting to teach Max that the stove is no, because he has developed an interest in hanging from the oven door, which causes it to crash open. Although this is relatively harmless when the oven is off, it has obvious negative consequences when the oven is on. I'm all about letting Max learn natural consequences, but these seem a little harsh.
So the oven was no. We explained to Max that it could be hot and he went on time out if he touched it. At first this seemed to work very well. He would run up to the oven and declare "HOT!" and then run off again. He even generalized the concept to Grandma and Grandpa's oven and to the barbecue. We were thrilled. Not only did our son know to leave the oven alone, but he had also mastered a new word!
But our original assessment of Max's understanding may have been misguided. As you rock him to bed at night he quietly repeats "hot, hot, hot". When you give him a bite of your ice cream, he informs you that it is "hot". And when he is happy to see you he dashes across the room with a big grin, open arms, and a barrage of "hots"
Max's understanding of the off limits oven seems to be headed in a similar direction. Despite our early progress, Gus turned around yesterday to find that Max had not only touched the oven, but he had climbed into the oven drawer! On second thought, it may not have been an example of exemplary parenting to delay time out while we took some pictures.....
One of the many photos that he will hold against you when he gets older.
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