Weekend kid funnies

The new pre-bedtime game is re-enacting fairy tales. Last night, we had to re-enact Little Red Riding Hood. Doug was the Big Bad Wolf, I was the grandmother and Elisabeth was Little Red Riding Hood. When we got to the part where the Big Bad Wolf eats the grandmother, Doug made some chomping motions. And boy did he ever get in trouble for that. "DADDY! You're doing it wrong! Daddy!!!!! That's not right!!!" Doug, a bit perplexed, said "but the wolf eats the grandmother!" And Elisabeth said, "he eats her but he doesn't chew her - he swallows her whole! You were chewing!"

And, for the fairy tale illiterate amongst you, she's right. That way, the huntsman can hack the wolf all to pieces and get the grandmother out whole.

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After Little Red Riding Hood, we played Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Elisabeth finally found the bed that was "just right." It was the step down from our tub, and she laid there peacefully. Charlotte's new favorite game is do anything at all that Elisabeth does, so Charlotte climbed up and laid down up there too.

While not the funniest story, it was easily the cutest thing we've seen Charlotte do in the "I want to be like Elisabeth" genre.

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Charlotte might not survive the next few months. Aside from throwing food and driving me insane, she is turning into kamikazi baby. She climbs up onto the couch, stands up, and quite literally flings herself headfirst onto the cushions. I have been there a few times to catch her when she "misjudges" the depth of the couch.

She also enjoys climbing up on chairs, and by climbing up I mean stand up on the chair and then shinny up the back of the chair so that she's teetering precariously at the very top of the chair, which is now very off balance.

And heaven help the fool who tries to take her down. First, she's freakishly strong and has learned to wrap all of her limbs around whatever it is she doesn't want to be removed from. Second, she bites. Third, she can pitch one heck of a temper tantrum. In general, she really wants to do whatever she wants to do. No matter how dangerous that thing might be.

How do you keep a 15 month old from climbing on the sofa? We tried taking the cushions off. She just uses them as steps to get onto the couch skeleton. I could shackle her ankles to the floor, but she's the kind of kid who might just chew her foot off.

We're expecting her to realize she can use the toys in her crib as steps any day now. Probably when we're at my parents house for Thanksgiving, because their crib is ever so slightly shallower than ours.

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