“NO!”

Well. It’s finally arrived. The dreaded time in every parents’ life when that little bundle of joy learns, and masters the word “no.” Gabe’s time has arrived. He learned the word about a week ago now, and it is in full force. He says it all the time. Last night he was eating cheese, and I asked if he would share some with mommy. He looked at me, shook his head and said, “no, no, no,” and then pushed my hand away. Then, I asked him if we should change his diaper. He looked at me and said “no, no, no.” Then, I asked him if it was time for night, night. He said, “NOOOOOOOO” and ran to daddy for salvation. Now, you might be saying to yourself that all of these propositions were pretty horrible, and Gabe can hardly be blamed. While that may be true, you will have to trust me that it is, by far, his favorite word. He even practices saying no in the car, just so he’s prepared when it’s needed. On Monday night, from his car seat I could hear him he very calmly repeating over and over again, “no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no….” for a good five minutes. And, despite his clear understanding of the word, he refuses to say the word yes. The power of no, must be utterly obvious even to a 17-month old. Oh, well! At least it wasn’t his first word.