The All Purpose Uh-Oh

Little Man's favorite word by far is "uh-oh". He used it sparingly at first, only in real emergencies, like when his car rolled under the couch.

In the past few weeks, Little Man has gained confidence with his favorite word. It is now the all purpose uh-oh, two tiny words that can be used in all sorts of situations:

--The real uh-oh: when something is actually wrong. Like yesterday when he woke up from his nap and his foot was stuck in his crib bars. Definitely an uh-oh.

--The "it was an accident" uh-oh: when he does something he knows he's not supposed to and is trying to make it look like an accident. Like when he flings his train across the room, looks at us with big innocent eyes and says "uh-oh!"

--The pre-emptive uh-oh: used when something he enjoys is coming to an end. During the last five minutes of his favorite Pooh Bear movie, he keeps up a constant stream of "uh-ohs" so that I can be poised and ready to restart it as soon as the credits start rolling.

--The "I am done making my mess and now it needs to be cleaned up" uh-oh: used when he does things like drag his (full) bottle of milk around the living room to make a little path. Once he has been over his train table, on the couch, and through his ball pit and tent, he uses this particular uh-oh to announce to me that a clean up is required.

--The "lets see how fast Mommy can move" uh-oh: because all of these uh-ohs sound the same, it is difficult for me to identify the serverity of the uh-oh situtation if I am in another room. Little Man knows this, and uses it to his advantage. So if he is bored, or would like to be read a book, or just wants to say hi, this particular brand of uh-oh is employed. Because he knows that I will come running to make sure everything is okay. I think it might be safe to say that the word "mama" has effectively been replaced with "uh-oh." It has a faster response time.

Uh-oh.