All Done!

The AAP recommends that children under 2 should watch no TV at all. However, bad parents that we are, we turned on the insidious box as a distraction while T attempted to trim a fingernail.

Since this was our own home video of playing in the park, it was hopefully not too harmful. Little RR watched with rapt attention, and the fingernail was successfully trimmed. The video came to an end, whereupon RR immediately said "All done!"

Now, this has been her favorite phrase around meal times, but sometimes it's not clear if she really is full, or she just likes saying the words. The issue is confused further by the fact that there may not be much room in the tummy for more potatoes or vegetable beef pilaf, but there is always more room for Oo-oo-os.* (*small, round, comes in a yellow box, registered trademark of General Mills)

At this point it must be mentioned that T, looking over my shoulder, protests that RR is clear on the meaning of the phrase. For example she says "all done" when reaching the end of a bottle. But be that as it may, she has recognized and announced the end of a video as well, and in fact, she also seemed unhappy that the video had concluded, and clearly wanted to see more. Is she falling into the clutches of the TV already? Wondering about this, I started another of our home videos, this one showing her crawling around the living room and playing with a few toys.

She watched the screen attentively, not being distracted by daddy playing nearby with his camera, but she did not seem as enthralled with this one. Not as much exciting movement as the swings at the park, I suppose.

There wasn't much of real interest until the very end of the video. At the end we see that exciting moment where the star of the show suddenly manages to grab that special black toy with so many buttons on one side, the one that the grown ups seem to think is important, and is usually kept out of reach on top of the TV. That moment was of course the high point of the show.

"All done!" she said cheerfully.