Gotcha!

Caleb communicates more every day.

He climbed up on the bench and held his carrier
When he was ready to be carried to sleep.

He tugs my arm and looks at me forcefully
When he needs to go potty (or sometimes just after).

If I quote a board book, he can fetch it.
If I ask how big he is, he puts up his hands.

If I tell him no, he either obeys or not,
But I can tell that he understands.

I caught him plugging an electric cord into an outlet today.
He had done it correctly, but I’d rather he not try yet.

And after I took off a diaper, he ran away, bare-bipped.
I thought he went to his brothers’ room.

I got a new diaper and went to find him,
But his brothers’ room was dark and silent.

I stood for a moment, considering.
He must have run to a different room without my notice—

Until a sudden giggle from the recesses of the bottom bunk
Revealed my little hiding son, happy to have played a trick on mommy.