Abe at 23 months

Yesterday morning I got up early and went for a short run while Joel was still in bed, and Ben and Abe were watching TV. When I got home Joel was still in bed, Ben was still watching TV, and Abe was doing this:

 

 In case you're confused, while I was gone Abe decided to pull up a stool to the kitchen counter, hoist himself up and immediately start unscrewing any lid in sight. The good news is that it could have been much much worse. The bad news is that my kitchen now smells overpoweringly of garlic powder.

If Ben had done this at the same age, I would have also taken a picture and thought it was funny, but I would have also been very surprised.  With Abe this type of event has just become part our daily lives. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Abe does at least one of the following activities every single day: opens the freezer, refrigerator, bread drawer, cereal jar, etc...and grabs whatever is in his reach (sour cream, ice cream, walnuts, etc...) to get himself a "nack", pulls a stool up to the kitchen sink, turns on the faucet, and then throws the entire contents of a cutlery drawer into the sink so he can do some washing, pulls a stool up to the bathroom sink, turns on the faucet, and then throws the contents of the toothbrush drawer into the sink so he can do some washing, finds any loose cord that someone may have left out and plugs it into an available outlet, but first taking off the child safety guards and even once UNSCREWING AND TAKING OFF THE FACEPLATE, climbs the drawer handles in the kitchen like a ladder, empties the contents of any drawer or cabinet onto the floor, takes the batteries out of the remote control, pours the contents of his water bottle into another receptacle or onto the floor, turns on the outside faucet in order to make a mud puddle to stomp in....I could keep going, but I think you get the idea. The funny thing is that his teachers at mother's day out have mentioned repeatedly how easy and laid back he is in class. And he IS, when he is in a controlled, completely child proofed environment with two teachers to keep him entertained. But here at our house, he's just a rascal. A loveable rascal who loves to give kisses and hugs to everyone his meets, but a rascal nonetheless.

The costume that afternoon was three capes, dinosaur sunglasses from the Chicago airport, and a Super Why! wand. He was trying to...attack me? Cast a spell? I don't really know. This is pretty much what Abe is like every day.

Having fun on the boat. Abe is a fan of sunglasses.

I heard a little voice yelling "Mama! Mama!" and found him like this. He thought he was being SO FUNNY.

Fed up with the wait to get our bags at the airport. I'm sure he would want you to notice that he's wearing his "back 'ack."

Abe loves his "brudder" and wants to do everything he does.

My littlest rascal at the beach. I love that monkey!