About a week ago, Noah and I had our first discipline-esque run-in.
The day before the run-in, I had found him on the floor in our living room, home phone in hand, gurgling gleefully as all the buttons lit up and a woman's voice said in a loud monotone: "If you'd like to make a call ..."
So when I plunked him down on the floor the following day, I was prepared: I propped a pillow up in front of the phone, thinking he'd never remember it was there.
Sometimes my naivete annoys even me.
He army-crawled around for a while, alternating between chasing the cat to pull his tail and patting various walls to see what they sound like.
And then he made a beeline for the phone.
When he got there and started to reach behind the pillow, I said, "No-no, Noah. No phone."
The stinker turned his head, looked me straight in the eyes and flashed a dashing grin clearly meant to disarm me.
OK, I chuckled, because he is so freakin' adorable. "Nice try, buddy," I said. "But you have an older sister who tried these tricks, too, so I know how this works."
In a few seconds, his smile faded, and he turned his head to look at the phone "hiding" behind the pillow again. When he put his chubby arm out a second time to snag it, I said, "Ah-ah, Noah. Mommy said no."
This time, he planted the big toe on his right foot, started swinging his leg back and forth in a "I'm so cute" way, slapped on the biggest grin he could manage -- double dimples fully displayed -- and tipped his head down and to the side, so that he was peering up at me.
It was so. darn. cute.
And so. darn. manipulative.
Who teaches an 8-month-old how to bribe his parents with cute grins and charm to get what he wants?
For the record, it didn't work. I'm a seasoned mom. The Mr. Cutie Pie routine earned him some big smooches on his fat baby cheeks, sure, but it also earned him time in his jumper seat, where he can't get to anything I don't want him to get to.
Poor kid. I can see this happening for the rest of his childhood: "Sorry, Noah. I fell for that trick a couple years ago when Sam tried it, so you're definitely not going to get away with it now."
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