Always on the phone

I realize that children all like to pretend they are on the phone but with Stephen it's more of an obsession.

It started 4-5 months ago when his #1 objective was to play with our cell phones. When his plans were constantly foiled he started to find anything and everything that could mimic a phone: remotes, calculators, door stops, pencils, cars, etc, etc, etc. When we stayed at my parents house, everyone in the family knew if they couldn't find a remote they started to look for Stephen. Sure enough he'd be walking around the house talking on the remote.

Sometimes his conversations are pretty simple - a lot of "hi daddy" and "bye-bye." But sometimes they are far more elaborate as he emphatically explains something with hand gestures and all. Then there are the times when he periodically adds a fake laugh - that always cracks me up.

I started becoming worried that I was setting a bad example - maybe I was on the phone too much. But after evaluating my phone use I realized that I wasn't who he was mimicking - it was daddy! Daniel works from home and is on the phone most of the day with business calls. What little boy doesn't want to be like his daddy? Needless to say - Stephen hasn't yet grown tired of talking on the phone and I'm beginning to wonder if he ever will.

Thanks to friends and family, we've been able to collect a few old cell phones and a few chargers so the phones feel even more real to Stephen. We have a phone in the car, a couple in the diaper bag and a few scattered in various parts of the house. If Stephen ever needs to be distracted from danger or if he starts getting restless - we're covered!

Since it happens all day long, you'd think I'd be better at snapping shots of it - but no, not so much. I did manage to find a few examples: