Sunday, June 30, 2013

3 Letter Word

Look at this bounty!


Ayden had fun walking around the farm eating the banana pepper he selected out of today's harvest. 

Luckily I was able to talk him out of a jalapeno!

Speaking of jalapeño peppers...  We now have a three letter word that is not allowed to be spoken in our house. Whenever something just *might* be H-O-T, we have to spell it or say, "It's...you know..." 

Ayden has totally fixated on the concept of hot and is always very concerned about it. I think it is because we are always warning him about hot things and are so serious when we do so. It's made him very cautious about hot stuff. He'll see steam, stick out his little hand and proclaim, "Hot!" He'll do the same when we draw bath water, give him his meals, goes down a slide that has been warmed by the sun. He is acutely aware of the temperature, or even the possible temperature of things, and if there's a chance it's hot he'll pass. He really dislikes getting into his carseat on a hot day but quickly calms down once he realizes it's not that bad. 

Needless to say, we are working on the concept of "warm" and how it is a good thing. 

What concept did your child fixate on?  I'd love to hear your stories!

~Sarah

10 comments:

  1. Unfortunately our four year old is fixated on toys and buying a new toy every time we go to the store... we're trying to teach him that "things" do not make you happy, people do. We spoiled him a bit and we're now trying to reverse... no more toys except for special occasions. We're trying to swap it with time together.

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    1. Sounds like you have a great plan in place! Patience and persistence and you'll get back to what feels good.

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  2. Ohhh, I was a jalapeno lover as a little one... My mom says I ate them like "normal" kids would eat candy or fruit. :)

    My 20 month old is also fixated on hot (and has been for a few months now). I believe it is for the same reason as Ayden, because we are so serious when we use the word... Thankfully, when it comes to food, he is good at blowing on it or giving it to mama/dada to blow on it. For some reason he doesn't believe me when the oven is "hot," though, and will go right up to the window and touch it. We never leave the kitchen when the stove is going because of it (you shouldn't do that anyway... ha!).

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    1. I'm not a fan of spicy foods so we don't really eat them much. I know kids in other cultures eat spicy foods all the time but I am worried to let him try it!

      Ayden used to blow on stuff. Then he blew out his first birthday candle and stopped doing it altogether. Even us blowing on it will make him worried food is too hot to eat. He's a mess! :)

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  3. Hi Sarah,
    I'm glad to have read this post. Nancy is fixated with crayons and coloring on everything. At 14 months, she picked up a crayon and started drawing on the washer and dryer. I didn't want to discourage her new found treasure or talent so we allowed it. A couple weeks later, she wants to draw on every wall, furniture item, toy, and book. She understands the word "don't" really well. So I am constantly after her saying "don't draw on this or that", "don't touch", or "don't eat". She also likes to take other kids buckets at the splash park and pool. She probably thinks that mom is so mean and won't let her do anything, but it's time to set limits for sure.

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    1. It is so hard when all you do is tell them no all day! We have that trouble when we are visiting other people's homes. Maybe follow her around with paper for a couple of days and encourage her to use it/praise her when she draws on it? Good luck!

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    2. Thanks for the suggestion. I will take a crack at it and let you know how it goes. :)

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  4. That is such a cute picture of Ayden!

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  5. My 14 month old son has no concept of temperature. I almost feel like I should let him touch a hot food or feel the almost hot water running for a bath because I feel like he's really gonna hurt himself! We never had the need to teach him hot since we always cooled food or made sure the bath was just right so he doesn't know what it means. But he's also not scared of the word either :) he was sitting on my sister's lap in the sun the other day and there was a glass topped metal table and she kept saying, don't touch, it's hot and I thought about letting him touch it for him to experiment. But I chickened out. It's hard to teach them something that might hurt!

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