No Like It

AJ has started to express his likes and dislikes. Or more accurately, he has started telling me about his likes and dislikes, as he has always made it clear what he likes and dislikes from his body language. But now we have progressed to the toddler's version of the mouth clamped shut which is "no like it." When forced to repeat himself a second time, it comes out as "no. like. it!" No like it made its appearance when I dressed AJ in a turtleneck and when we were test driving double strollers to see if they fit AJ (all three earned an emphatic "no like it!"). No like it makes a nearly daily appearance at mealtime when something new is set in front of him. He immediately eyes it with suspicion and prounounces "no like it." I just say "okay, you don't have to eat it" in a disinterested way and walk off, and he usually ends up eating it.

AJ will occasionally utter the opposite--"like it!", but this is very rare. To date I think I have only heard it twice--once when he tried on a new pair of shoes in a snazzy blue and orange color combo and once when I gave him a bite of my non-dairy ice cream sandwich, called a Tofutti Cutie. If it gets the "like it!" seal of approval, you know he must really like it.