Ut-oh. . .

Two simple little sounds, strung together, nothing fancy, not even really a word. Hell, I even encouraged him to learn it. I thought it would be cute and it was. . . for the first couple times.

Now it's his signature move. . . or sound. It wouldn't be so bad if ut-oh meant "ut-oh" but he doesn't use it when something happens accidentally. He uses it when he makes something happen, as in "ut-oh I threw my cup on the floor on purpose" or "ut-uh I grabbed the remote control and reset all the channels so we only get static now."

Of course when the stopper falls out of his sippy cup and milk pours all down his neck and shirt he doesn't say ''ut-oh." No, he just sits there milk dripping from his chin wondering what the hell happened.

So he just walks around the house knocking things over and saying "ut-oh" in his little sing song voice. I can't wait for the day he looks at us, says "ut-oh" and THEN drops something on purpose.

"Ut-oh" is a big deal. It means he is starting to realize he has control over parts of his world. Along with his love for "ut-oh," he's climbing now. He concentrates on one thing at a time sometimes and he isn't so easily distracted. He loves to play on his own, but sometimes playing with us is more fun. He knows he is his own person now. He's not attached to his mother and me (though sometimes I think he'd like to be). He's becoming independent. He's growing up.