One of the perils of being one-and-a-half seems to be a general lack of control, both over one’s body and over the circumstances of one’s life. There’s obviously a growing awareness and a burgeoning ability to control what happens through communication (which is really all about getting what one wants), but there are also areas foreign and mysterious (and that can cause problems).
Case in point. A naked Owen stands by the bathtub watching it fill with warm water and bubbles. I go into the next room to get a facecloth. I hear a piercing scream, then wails of misery. I rush next door, imagining that somehow he’s fallen into the tub (which comes up to his chest)… but no. My poor, miserable child has peed, has slipped, and has whacked his head on the tile floor, and now lies, sobbing, his body half soaked in his own urine (including his hair). I am a very bad mother, for as I picked him up and dried him (and the floor) off with an old towel, I had a very hard time not laughing out loud – and I may have chuckled a little. This kind of thing can only happen when you’re not aware of what will happen when you pee (chain of events: floor slippery, might fall, bump head, get wet). It was kind of pathetic but also awfully cute, and since he was about to get into the bath anyway, not even very difficult to clean up. And he didn’t seem to hit his head too hard, since he calmed down immediately.
Poor guy. We need to work on those associations. Pee=wet=slippery=fall. Or maybe he already learned that lesson.
