My little helper...

Alex loves to help in the kitchen. And by help, I mean stand and watch you work. I think she would rather watch me do dishes than play with any toy she has. There are times that the only threat/bribe that will work is the ability to stand and watch me chop onions.

Every time Michele or I go to the kitchen to do dishes, cook, make coffee, etc Alex is right behind us. She'll run to the dining nook and grab a chair and start noisily sliding it into the kitchen. "Dishes, dishes!", she says, regardless of the task at hand. I guess it's the little things that thrill them sometimes.

But, we have found out, a wooden dining chair is not the safest perch for little feet. She's fallen off, run over her toe, and almost tipped it over almost every day. So we finally broke down and did something about it. Thanks to a suggestion from our friend Megan, we got Alex a Learning Tower.

Call it a Christmas morning dry run. We assembled it after she went to sleep Friday. When she woke up Saturday morning we ushered her toward the kitchen and it took her about two seconds to figure out what it was for. She ran over and climbed up and made this face...


No more chair, no more peril, no more impending doom. This may be our best baby purchase yet.