The Obsessions of a Nearly 16 Month-old...

"Vacuum!"... "vacuum, vacuum, vacuum"..."VACUUM!!!!" Have I mentioned that Gabe is slightly obsessed with the vacuum? As I carry him down the stairs for breakfast in the morning, "vacuum?". While eating breakfast, Gabe sees daddy coming down the stairs, points in the general direction of the vacuum and says, "vacuum, vacuum". He is completely mesmerized by the thing. I don't know how many of you have seen the Disney Pixar movie, Finding Nemo, but in the movie there are these seagulls that go "mine, mine, mine, mine..." whenever they see a fish that looks yummy. Well, sometimes Gabe says "vacuum" that fast and repeats it that many times. We will get it out for him and let it sit in the living room where he can play with it. He likes to carry the attachments around and press all of the buttons. Well, as soon as you turn it on in an attempt to use it, it's an entirely different ball game. He watches intently, but won't get within 3 feet of the thing. As soon as it shuts off, he's all about playing with it again. Last night Eser and I were going upstairs to put laundry away, and Gabe cried the whole way up the steps because he wanted the vacuum. Upstairs, with tears streaming down his face, he stood at the baby gate crying, "Vacuum!" He would then thunder into the bedroom like a little baby elephant, look at us longingly and say, you guessed it, "vacuum?"...