Be Careful What You Wish For

Now that Dexter is developing an ever-increasing vocabulary, we are trying to foster his verbal communication skills by asking him to say the word for what he wants. At dinnertime, this usually involves him gesturing that he wants "more" after finishing his proper dinner and me responding by asking if he wants something in particular (banana, cheese, and puffs are common after-dinner options). When he nods yes, I ask him to tell Mama what he wants. More often than not, he easily repeats what it is he wants (banana, cheese, or puffs). The other night Dexter and I were going through this ritual - he asked for more, I asked if he wanted puffs, he nodded yes, I asked him to tell Mama what he wanted, and rather than saying "puffs" he had a meltdown. Perhaps I should have just given him the puffs but instead I pestered him to tell Mama what he wanted, trying to prompt him to say "puffs". After a few of my requests, Dexter composed himself, looked me in the eye through his crocodile tears, and in response to, "Dexter, just tell Mama what you want," he replied, "Daddy." My heart sank. I wanted to cry. I held it together and explained that Daddy was at work but that I would be happy to give him some puffs. Which I promptly did.