Dr. Mitchell, I presume

Last night I got the brilliant idea to get Dennis a play doctor set. Not so that he could terrorize Chloe (or Chloe's parents--they ARE a bit young to "play doctor") or the dog, but to play with the stethoscope and otoscope so he won't be so freaked out when we go the pediatrician next time. Good old Fisher Price had one at Wal-Mart, and it looks like the same play stethoscope I loved as a child (with a slightly different color scheme). We brought it home and opened it up, and I checked his ears with the big yellow plastic otoscope (don't cringe, Jennifer--It's WAY too big to fit in his ear), and he checked my ears, and we took blood pressure and took Winnie the Pooh's temperature. We put a big plastic band-aid on Eeyore. His favorites are the syringe (he gave me and Pooh and Eeyore many injections) and the stethoscope. He kept bringing the stethoscope over to me so I could help him put it on correctly. And then he'd pull it back off, look at it, and chew on the ear pieces. Funny, but I can remember doing EXACTLY this with mine. It was yellow, and I loved putting the ear pieces in my mouth and using my tongue to turn them inside out. I guess a strange tendency for tasting earwax has passed down from me to him.

A less disgusting skill he learned today: picking and eating blueberries. His Gran took him out to her garden, and he looked at the fish, walked barefoot in the grass, and then she took him over to the blueberry bush and showed him a ripe blueberry. He grabbed it and ate it and giggled. She pointed out the ripe berries to him and he picked and ate a dozen or more. After the first few berries, every time he put one in his mouth he'd say "mmmmmm" and smile.

He's beginning to learn how to put his clothes on. He puts his head into the shirt opening and then raises his hands to push them through the sleeves. Tonight, I told him we needed to put his pants on (post diaper change), and I asked him where his legs went. He placed one foot in the pants I was holding open for him. I asked him where his other leg went, and he picked up his foot and put it into the pants as well. Then stood up so I could pull the pants up. Every day he learns something new. This is an exciting time to be able to stay at home with him. So fascinating to watch him assimilating new skills and words and concepts!