Uh- Oh!

Jack's favorite new word this week is "Uh-Oh," but with a slight pause and then emphasis on the Oh, so it's "Uh- Oh!" This phrase is one we hear regularly, in part because there are so many opportunities for him to use it.....

"Uh- Oh!" The most frequent usage comes when he drops something on the floor from his high chair. Considering about 90 percent of what he drops he does intentionally, I'm working on a theory that says he drops things in part so he can practice saying "Uh- Oh!" Bits of waffle, crunchy goldfish crackers, his milk, anything he doesn't particularly care for...The "Uh- Oh!" is accompanied by him leaning over the side of the chair to watch what he's just dropped, sometimes before it even hits the floor. When he gets tired of saying it will food no longer end up on the floor? We can hope.

"Uh- Oh!" It gets windy at times in Denver, turning an otherwise warm sunshine-y day into a rather colder afternoon than it appears. A windy day often means that Jack's hat ("Hat!" he says) won't always stay on his head ("Head," he says, slapping a hand to it by way of emphasis). A stroller ride, then, can turn into a grand opportunity to say "Uh- Oh!" when his hat goes blowing off his head. And if the wind doesn't do its job, Jack will obligingly give it a hand, taking his hat off and dropping it to the sidewalk. "Uh- " "Jack, that wasn't an accident - YOU did that! Yes, you did!" "-Oh!"

"Uh- Oh!" Jack manages to grab his clean diaper and drop it over the edge of the changing table onto the floor. This forces me to 1) make sure his soiled diaper is beyond his reach, 2) use one hand to hold him in place, and 3) stoop down to get the clean diaper with the other hand. Not a big deal, really, but accompanied by a totally unsympathetic little "Uh- Oh!" it can be a trifle grating.

"Uh- Oh!" Jack drops the phone. The TV remote. The car keys. Anything else we're careless enough to leave at his level. Or I can't quite get his sneakers on. Or his jacket gets stuck halfway over his head. (This one is a somewhat muffled, "uhh-ohhh.) Or he turns his milk upside down and starts pouring it slowly onto his tray.

So I'm waiting for the day his new favorite words are "all gone," "put away," or maybe, "play quietly on my own for half an hour while Mom and Dad pass out on the couch on a Saturday afternoon." I'll keep you posted.