This morning the weather threatened rain so Walker donned his Batman rain gear that Gigi gave him for Christmas. He arrived at the same time as Madeline and while Mommy missed the loving good morning hugs and kisses, I was fast enough with the camera to capture the sweet little lovebird dance.

This morning was not unlike other mornings in that Walker doesn’t like to put on his clothes — even tho he does have the cutest outfits. Larry and I have been able to cultivate a learned response to facilitate getting the little guy to snap to attention and begin doing what we’ve requested. It all started when he refused to get out of the bath once the water drained away. He’d sit in the cold bathroom, covered in bubbles and ignore me as I would implore him to stand up and get out. One day, based on a conversation I had with Malcolm’s mom, I decided I would tell him that I would count to three and if he didn’t get out of the bath, I’d take him out — which of course, involves picking him up like a little boy. He played through 1 — 2 — 2 and a half — three! He was not happy about being treated like a little boy and I gave him the opportunity to climb out himself. The next day, we had the same problem. Again I picked him up and again, he was very upset. The third day, he was playing in the bubbles and I started to count. I didn’t get past 2 before he stood up straight and climbed out saying, “Mommy, I do it my big boy self.” (This is a very common refrain in the house. Everything needs to be done Walker’s big boy self and there is hell to pay if we don’t give him the chance to try something on his own.) We have expanded the counting to all activities in which Walker demonstrates a reticence to comply. It’s developed into kind of a game with him giggling as we get closer to three. Only on very rare occasions do we ever have to treat him like a little Walker and hey, he’s starting to learn about fractions!