I realize this is pretty pathetic, but one of the things Ton Ton and I look forward to the most are Luki’s appointments with his pediatrician. When the nurse tells us he is in the 90th percentile for height or the doctor compliments his headways in motor skill development, we feel validated as parents. And yes, we need validation. It makes us feel good. This is our first child and, until he can draw a picture featuring stick figures of us that says “I love mommy and daddy and thank them for keeping me alive all these years,” we will thrive on the positive reinforcement from the pediatrician.

The thing about our pediatrician though, is that he’s really popular, so Luki’s appointments always fall weeks after they’re supposed to. For instance, he turned six months old on January 2nd, but didn’t see his doctor until the 20th. We never remember to write down when his next appointment is supposed to be, so on January 18th Ton Ton and I had the following conversation:

Me: Uh, wasn’t Luki supposed to have a doctor’s appointment this month?
Ton: Yea, I think so.
Me: Do you remember when it is?
Ton: No
Me: Did you write it down?
Ton: No.
Me: Do you have the number to the pediatrician’s office in your wallet?
Ton: No.
Me: Huh. I think we missed it. We are officially the worst parents ever.

So much for validation, eh?

Fortunately, we hadn’t missed his appointment and got a reminder call from the doctor’s office the following day. Our son was able to receive his next round of vaccines and Big E didn’t have to go through with her threat of reporting us to the Department of Social Services for child neglect. Win, win.

Anyway, at that particular appointment our pediatrician warned us about Luki becoming more mobile and trying to touch things he’s not supposed to. He advised us to be firm and constant in saying “NO.” And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for the past three weeks. Shaking our heads and waving our fingers and saying things like, “Luki, NO, don’t touch the DVD player” or “NO Luki, you can’t suck on the edge of the coffee table.” Over. And over. And over.

Our reinforced prohibitions haven’t deterred him from attempting to choke or electrocute himself, but he has managed to learn a brand new trick: how to shake his head NO. So now, every time we ask him to stop/don’t/step away/let go, he turns to us and vigorously wobbles his head from side to side. And I mean vigorously, like he’s having an epileptic seizure.

Ton Ton and I cheer and clap, and say, “Good job! That’s right! We said No and so did you!” Luki giggles, excited about hearing us sing his praises. Then, he turns around and continues his quest to put every electrical appliance we own in his mouth.

I guess we all need a little validation from time to time.