Testing 1...2...3

As E learns about the limitlessness of outer space he is testing the limits of his own space. We may be approaching the start of two-dom and the corresponding "terribleness". Or, maybe little E is just reacting to our reduced household size after having had very nice visits from his Nana and Granddah. Our all-too-brief time as an extended household led me to believe that the proper ratio of adults to toddlers is at least 3 to 1.

E is absolutely obsessed with rockets, the space shuttle, planets, etc... This obsession has been around for 2 weeks (an eternity in toddler time) and shows no signs of waning. We have 3 non-fiction books from the library plus one we own about spaceships and we read them all at least 3 times a day, cover to cover. E knows the difference between the Apollo and the Mercury spacecrafts and knows the parts of the space shuttle. He can point out Earth, the moon, Mars. He says "Jupiter". (space prodigy status aside, he is still a toddler; he indicates that moon rocks and moon buggies (bugs) are for eating ...)

But, by far his favorite space related activity is to watch a shuttle launch on the computer. He watches with rapt attention until the shuttle is cruising through the atmosphere at which point he cries "no, no, no" indicating that he wants to go back to the beginning. The first time he saw the launch his reaction was over the top. He actually started to cry and shake; I thought at first maybe it scared him but given his ongoing fascination I think it more likely that he was overwhelmed and ecstatic; like he'd just won an Oscar.

Like any good parents, the Mav and I decided to use this our advantage. At first it worked very well. For the first time in his life E, when called, came directly and layed down to docilely get his diaper changed. Then he got to watch a shuttle launch. Perfect!

E has not watched a launch since Sunday morning. He won't come when called. He won't lie still. He throws a temper tantrum. Because we want to change his diaper.

He is very, very upset at not getting to watch the shuttle. But not upset enough to listen and cooperate.

The poor little thing doesn't know what to do when his tormentor is also his source of comfort. Though I told him "no" about the shuttle video, it was I to whom he clung to sooth his anguish. It's fascinating, it's heart-breaking, and it's a little comical that all that distress came from simply not wanting his diaper changed and wanting to watch a 3 minute shuttle launch.

On the up side, E is learning how to count to 5 now. He knows 1, 2, 3, and 5 and can somewhat say them at the right time. The Mav was pretty sure E was going to learn to count as 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, "go for main engines start", 4, 3, 2, 1 but with the videos restricted due to behavioral difficulties we're learning to count-down from good old-fashion books.