Naughtiness is the Three-Year Old Living in my House!

I have had a baby gate to keep Toby out of the kitchen. Really, it's the lazy way of "baby-proofing". Last week, I decided it was time to start "trusting" him and take it down. The first couple of days I found myself chasing him out of the kitchen quite a bit but then the novelty of this new room seemed to wear off and he wasn't all that interested.

Today, Toby & I stayed home. I cleaned and did a lot of laundry. I have not done laundry in 11 days--so I had a lot to do. I had folded three loads and had taken them upstairs to put them away. And that's when I smelled the smell and new instantly that my little stinker had gone into the kitchen and turned on the burners or the oven, I wasn't sure which but I knew something was burning or melting that shouldn't be.

I came downstairs to find that Toby had turned on not one, not two, but three of the burners on the stove top! Unfortunately, I had set my nice (plastic) cupcake holder on top of the stove top just an hour before so that it could dry the rest of the way (I had just washed it). For a split second I thought maybe I had arrived before the damage was horrible. But then I lifted the lid and the whole middle of the lid stayed on my stove top. It is ruined. I loved my cupcake holder and hope they still sell the same kind at Real, where I bought it last year.

After scolding him (no reaction), and spanking him (barely a flinch) I put him in his room, in his crib to be exact (he hasn't tried to climb out and I am avoiding buying him a real bed until we move back to the States). This is when he said "I sorry, I be a good boy, I be a good boy."

He eventually fell asleep. Right after that, I decided to pull back my curtains in my bedroom to let in some natural light. That's when I noticed that my heavy, insulated curtains now have "fringe" down one side of them. Yep, he found my fabric scissors and wasn't afraid to use them. The sad thing is, I'm pretty sure he did it right under my nose this morning and I didn't realize it. I thought he was playing with cars along the ledge of my window sill, not giving my curtains a new, updated look! (The scissors are now WAY up, I found that he pushed the step-stool in the bathroom to my bedroom where they were so that her could reach them).

Tonight, at dinner, I gave James the full report. When James turned to Toby to ask him about all of his naughtiness, he admitted to everything in a "very matter-of-factly" manner, there was no shame, no remorse. The more I get to know Toby, the more I think he will be our little "free-spirit"...but he's so deceptive because I think he often times looks like he's so sweet. Believe me, he is NOT!

Until later,

Emily