New words and discipline

Eoin has finally learned to say please. He has been able to say thank you for a little while but he has finally worked out that saying please gets a great response. Today I was tidying out the laundry cupboard (a project long overdue and made necessary by our washing machine leaking but hopefully the repair man can work out what is wrong!) and Eoin came to me with a toy that he needed help to open and he said 'pease' and of course I was delighted and stopped and helped him. A few minutes later Eoin came back with another toy - same thing. And then it happened a third time when he saw something he wanted in the laundry cupboard; he pointed and said 'pease'. Now I wonder how long before he gets mad if he doesn't get what he wants even if he does saw 'pease'?

Other new words in the last week include night night, bye bye, yeah, sit down and gentle. The issue of being gentle is becoming huge to say the least. Eoin is now deliberating throwing things and banging toys on surfaces he knows he's not allowed to. So we have decided on a two pronged approach. The first time ask him to stop throwing or banging and show him the appropriate way to use the toy. Then a firm second warning telling him that if he does it again the toy will be taken away. And the third time is when we take the toy away. This usually results in tears especially if it's his stroller and baby or broom but he normally moves on quickly. We hope that with a couple of weeks of consistent guidance we will have a break through on the throwing. Being gentle however I think is going to take a little longer.