The New Meaning of "No!"

I never wanted to be one of those mom's. The one's that were constantly saying "NO!" But as Jonah gets older and more mobile and of course, more curious, I have succumbed to using that word....that ugly word, far more than I ever expected. His intense curiosity has lead to many new observations and adventures for him. For example, his new found love for electrical cords has made me quite insane. I am forever saying "No! Danger!" He also loves the fireplace. Even though the fireplace has a glass and mesh front that make it only warm to the touch, not hot, has lead to me yelling, "No! Hot!" I also find him running as fast as his little crawling legs can take him, towards the cat food/water bowls and/or cat toys that always end up in his mouth, which results in "No! Yucky!" I have this thing about explaining myself. I feel like when I say "No!" I need to follow that with "Why I am saying no." so he knows it is not just because mommy is a mean mommy who won't let the baby have any fun.

Now, I do want to say that I do let him explore. I let him crawl wherever he so chooses, within reason. Yet it seems he gravitates towards anything and everything that I would rather he stayed away from (as we speak he is currently knocking over my stack of Christmas CD's that I inadvertently left on the floor...he somehow has also managed to remove a CD from the case, and is now playing with that as well).

But I must say that I LOVE seeing him grow and become more intelligent every day. I see how he handles things and observes how the birds fly around outside or the leaves blow in the wind. I love how he takes a piece of paper, and crumples it up, and opens it back up, just to see what sounds it makes and what it looks like from all different perspectives. I even love watching him take that same Christmas CD and stick his fingers through the hole in the middle and tap it against the wall, just to hear the sounds and see the shiny side of it change shades when it hits the light certain ways. I love how he is always shoving anything and everything under the baby gate at the top of the stairs, just to watch it roll down the stairs. I love how he chases after the cats, just for them to get up and run off when he gets so close he can almost catch them. I love his determination and his frustration to try and get certain items to do certain things. I love the noises he makes when he can't figure it out, because I know one day, he will and those angered noises will turn into satisfied smiles. I love how when he knows he is doing something wrong, he looks to me, just to see the look of my face and to hear me say, "No, no, no" in that sweet mommy voice I try to have. I love how short his attention span is, and how it forces him to discover new things all the time. I love how he peers around corners, looking for something that abruptly went out of his sight.

I love every single time I have to tell him "No!" because it shows how smart and observant he is. I have a feeling that "No!" will be a staple in our language, but for some reason I think he already understands that it is not necessarily a bad thing. Actually, I think he finds it quite amusing. LOL.