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The Calm Before
One perk of UTEP is that we generally get long winter breaks. As a graduate student, that comes as a major benefit as I have used the time to catch up on several projects that fell by the wayside last semester, and preparing to teach again. Luckily, I’ve also had a few extra hours to spend at home. Perhaps it has been good timing, as Carver is more mobile than ever and becoming increasingly bored with the things he can play with while developing a terrifying fascination with those he should not. This morning, I was shaving in the bathroom with Carver on the floor, exploring the cupboard full of bath toys. Well, he’s no fool; Daddy’s pulled this trick before. The boy whined at the lack of novelty, so I cleared off the counter where I could directly supervise him and thought he could play with his mirror image. That wouldn’t do either after about 5 seconds. He saw the toothbrushes on the other side of the sink and decided he would attempt to get to them. In the end I resorted to letting him explore the empty bathtub while I finished shaving.
He is particularly drawn to potential sources of food. We’ve caught him in kitchen cupboards trying to break into our bags of chips, and yesterday he was helping me out in the kitchen, whining for something to get into. I opened the fridge to retrieve an item, and the child made a beeline for the mustard on the bottom shelf.
We’re running out of little corners for Carver to explore. We may have to move soon just to keep him occupied for more than 5 minutes.