He Makes Me Smile

Am I a bad dad for laughing at my kids? They do the funniest things, even when they don't mean to. I can't help but laugh out loud at some of the things. Here are a few of my favorites from Itai from the last few weeks.

He loves to imitate Avi, no matter what he is doing. The other day Avi was being punished in the corner. Itai came to investigate all the crying. He saw Avi in the corner and looked at me, clearly trying to determine what was happening. Once I told him Avi was taking a time out he walked quickly to the corner (well, as close to the corner as Avi would let him) and stuck his nose against the wall.


Another time Avi was standing looking at the wall when he started to rub his hands across it. I don't know if he likes the texture or what, but I decided to join in the activity. I said, "Oh, are you cleaning the walls? OK, cleaning! Cleaning, cleaning the walls!" as I rubbed my hands back and forth. Itai ran over and joined in as well. I'm not sure what on earth he thought we were doing, but he knew that if Avi was doing it, he wanted to do it too. Now both of them run to the wall and start rubbing it as soon as I say, "Let's clean the wall!" (This may come in handy once I figure out how to transfer this to dishes.)


Itai loves taking a bath. The other day I got his clothes off and set him down. Avi was standing between him and the tub so Itai found a way around. It just so happened that the way around took him squeezing between the toilet and Avi and over some toilet paper. It got stuck to his foot. Now, that was enough to make me smile and giggle a bit, but his reaction made laugh out loud. He looked down at it and shook his foot a few times. It didn't come off. Then he tried rubbing it on the rug, but still it was stuck. A few more shakes failed to get it off. He decided to just take it into the bath with him. He tried to climb into the tub but he saw the toilet paper again. He bent down to pull it this time, but his weight kept it stuck underneath him. He was so bugged by it that he looked at me and said, "Uh!" Then he tried to stick out his foot for me to pull it off. Unfortunately for him, this sudden shift in balance left him on his stomach with the toilet paper still stuck to him.


Itai loves hats almost as much as he loves baths. After Avi asked for his Mickey Mouse hat and got it, Itai wanted something to wear. The only hand handy was my baseball cap. I put it on his head even though it was far too big for him. He loved wearing it. He thought it was so funny to pull the brim of the hat down over his eyes. I tried to catch him, but it was too late. He walked headlong into the garbage can knocking him down while making a loud crash. Itai thought this was funny too, he kept bumping into it hoping to get a reaction.

While I was changing Avi's diaper I see Itai inspecting something on his fingers. I couldn't quite see what it was, but when I asked him what he was looking at he ran. He may as well have said, "I don't know what it is, but I shouldn't have it and I'm not going to let you have it!" With a big, messy diaper on my hands all I could do was watch and make sure he didn't eat whatever it was. He eventually made his way to the wall and started wiping his finger on it. It was then I realized what it was. A booger! Once he got it off his wall and securely stuck to the wall he walked off happy as could be. Maybe I should have made him do the "cleaning the wall" trick. Why didn't I think of that before??

Lastly, he loves putting things in their place (this isn't to say he doesn't love making a mess). He likes putting crayons back in their ziplock bag, puzzle pieces with their puzzles and nesting cups in their place. He also loves bringing trash to us and getting permission to throw it away, especially diapers. So, the other day he brings the diaper I had just taken off of him and I tell him he's right, it needs to go into the the trash can. I watch him carry it off and carefully place it in the trash can. Then he decides he wants to see where it ended up. He gets up on tiptoes, pushes the flap back and peers down into the trash can. Then I notice that his mouth is directly on the trash can. I go running over telling him, "No, no. Don't put your mouth on the trash can," to which he replies by opening his mouth with laughter. Yuck!