September 20, 2009

My Little Monk


No, not the monastery type monk. I am talking about the television series Monk on USA. If you are not familiar with it, I implore you to check it out. It's clean, interesting, funny, and the highlight of my Friday nights. Basically its about a brilliant detective named Adrian Monk who has many extreme phobias and compulsions. For example, he will spend hours setting a table to make sure all the dishes and napkins are in perfect alignment, he is obsessed with touching every street lamp he walks by, and he won't shake someones hand unless he has an anti-bacterial wipe close by - and that's seriously just the tip of the ice berg. But despite his hang-ups with being able to cope in society, he is extremely observant as well as intelligent in solving crime investigations.

So the reason I felt so compelled to blog about this show is because lately I have been noticing Toby's "Monkish" tendencies:

  • When I cut-up a hot dog for Toby, it has to be a clean cut. Meaning none of the top layer skin can be dangling from the hot dog slice or he will absolutely refuse to eat it.
  • When I make Toby pancakes they have to be perfectly round little silver dollar pancakes. If I make them "normal" size or cut them up into small pieces he will just look at me with this "Are you kidding me?" stare.
  • Toby also has this weird tendency to touch the top point of a lamp shade or light fixture. We have a light right above our sink that comes to a point and anytime he is in my arms he strains to touch it. He's also done this at my parents house several times. I can't figure out who he gets this stuff from!
  • Toby does not like his sippy cups to be tipped over on his high chair tray or on the floor. He will very carefully set them down.
  • Most recently Toby has developed a fetish for opening and closing things with lids not just once or twice, but over and over and over again. ("I can't be opening and closing all kinds of jars!" -Brian Regan....Sorry, I had to throw that random quote in there) But seriously anything from sippy cups to bottled water to empty milk cartons will keep him fascinated for a solid 20 minutes (and that's a long time for him, trust me).
So some of these other traits are not so OCD as they are just cute or quirky:

  • Toby loves to grab my head, pull it close to his stomach, hold it there, and not let go. Most kids have a lovey or comfort toy - his is my head. I know, so strange but cute too.
  • Toby is obsessed with my hair. He will take big chunks of it and caress his face with it while we are sitting in church.
  • Raspberries are the only fruit Toby will actually chew up and swallow. All the other fruit he will try to suck the juice out of it, take it out of his mouth, and hand it back to me. Mmmm, thanks bud. :)
  • Toby is instantly affectionate with most kids that he meets. Last week in Nursery he was going around trying to hug and kiss all of the kids in there (whether they liked it or not).
  • Toby is a creature of habit. When I go for walks with my mom in the mornings, we are usually forced to end it at my mom's house. Toby has the route to Grandmas house down cold and I've made the mistake more than once of trying to mix things up and explore other areas in our neighborhood. Not a good idea. Stick to the path that leads to Grandma's house.
  • Toby gets easily irritated if you ask him too many questions. His limit is usually 2 or sometimes 3 if you catch him in a good mood. For example, I will ask him: "Toby, where is your nose?" He points to his nose. "Where are your ears, Toby?" He points to them. Usually by the third question he interrupts you with this shrill, high pitched scream like an angry short-tempered old man. As if to say, "Enough! I have had it with you and all of your irritating questions!" It cracks me up.
  • Toby sniffs all of his food before trying it.
I will admit, in the moment some of these traits can be quite frustrating and/or irritating. But someday when he is older it will be fun to read these to him and have a good laugh together.

Oh how I love my Monkish, quirky, little Tobeman.

1 comment:

cynthia said...

We love the show Monk (and good old Brian thanks to you)! I think that's really funny that Toby has some Monk in him! I bet that makes for some good entertainment :) He's a cute kid! And really growing up, time flies doesn't it?!?