Cause and Effect

I'm bummed to report that I finally had to give Dashiell his first time out this week.  For weeks he's been standing on his chair during meals, but usually will sit back down if I tell him to.  However the other morning, he continued to stand, saying "no dancing on chair", despite my asking him to sit down and telling him that I didn't want him to fall.  I gave him two warnings and told him if he didn't sit down he'd get a time out (not that he knew what that really was since he's never had one before).  So after the second warning I took him out of the chair and made him sit on the kitchen floor.  It involved a lot of screaming (by him) and me trying to get him to sit still, and lasted a very long 20 seconds or so.  It really wasn't fun for either of us.  But after he calmed down a bit I gave him a hug and reassured him that I still loved him and explained why he got a time out, just in case he didn't understand why it happened.

Since then, every time he stands on a chair and I ask him to sit down, he'll sit, say "time out", let out a fake cry (and it's obviously fake), then say "hug mommy" and come over and give me a hug.  So did I just teach him that time outs lead to hugs from mommy?  I mean, I guess he also understands that time outs lead to crying.  I just hope that he realizes that many other GOOD things lead to hugs from mommy, not just time outs! 

Since I didn't take any pictures of Dashiell dancing on his chair (boy would that send mixed messages!), here are a couple of random photos I took recently.  First, I bought Dashiell some new sunglasses the other day, and he's super excited about them!  I think it helps that Rick and I both wear glasses all day every day, so now he has his own glasses!  Plus after I took this picture I raved about how cool he looked and showed him the picture--which he kept wanted to look at over and over--so now it's not too difficult to get him to wear his cool new sunglasses:

The next picture I'm posting is mostly for my friend Molly and those who follow her blog.  She had JUST posted pictures of her daughter putting a bucket over her head, and the next day Dashiell (who did not see the pictures) decided to walk around the house with this wicker basket on his head.  So I guess great toddler minds think alike!  As you can see from the blurriness of the picture he was a boy on the move!  He seemed to be able to see just fine--he walked from the dining room to the kitchen and didn't bump into anything!