favorite toys around the house

Grayson has so many cool toys. Some we buy and some he gets from friends and family that adore him. He loves them all! Several times, Ray and I have been in despair because we have not seen of G's recent favorite toys (i.e., his Cookie Monster plastic finger puppet). We look and look but have no luck. Our best hope is that it will one day turn up again. Then out of no where, Grayson goes right to it! It's like he knew where it was the whole time! :)
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Anyway, besides his favorite toys that are what they are designed to be - TOYS, G has a few other "toys" that are common things around the house. Unfortunately, most of these things are "no-no's". He knows this. However, he cannot resist playing with them.
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First and foremost, there's our oversized doorstop that is beige in color. It holds our laundry room door open. He loves playing with that thing! He can pull it from under the door no matter how tight it is wedged. He likes carrying it around. I know it isn't that clean, but he loves it. So, until he hides it, I don't complain. He has loved doorstops for a long time. He likes playing with this bright green cat doorstop we used for his room at our old house. His bedroom door at our new house doesn't need a doorstop, but we keep it on the shelf of his lamp stand for him to play with. :)
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The next item in our house he's turned into a toy is the dogs' water bowl. Again, this is something he's enjoyed playing with for a LONG time. This is a big "no-no". He prefers to submerge his hand in the bowl and splash water. He knows he's no supposed to do it. He even shakes his head "no" before he does it! :) He is just determined to play in it! He wants us to know he understands he isn't supposed to play in the dog water, but he's gonna do it anyway because he really wants to! ;) On one occasion, he even dumped the entire water bowl! When he plays in the water, we often end up picking up the bowl and setting it on the island. Used to, he'd move on because his toy was gone. But now, he picks up the mat the bowl was sitting on and shakes it! : He's something else!
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And finally, he loves playing with the curtain style screen on our fireplace. This is a big "no-no" and he knows it! Obviously, if a fire were burning, the screen would be hot (dangerous). We'll for sure have to buy a nicer fireplace screen once we start having a fire. Also, inside the fireplace is dirty. It isn't disgusting (I've seen some nasty, unkept fireplaces), but it is far from clean. A few days ago, he was playing with the screen (with his hand). We said "No, Grayson!" He stopped and shook his head "no". Then he took his toy hammer and started touching the screen with it! It was like he was saying, "I'm not touching it with my HAND...I know I'm not supposed to. I'm touching it with my hammer." Again, we said, "No!" He stopped and shook his head "no". A few seconds later, we turned around and saw him playing with the screen using his foot! :) Again, as if to say, "I'm not using my hand OR my hammer. It's my foot!" Boy oh boy that boy of ours! :) And yesterday I believe it was, I had reminded him several times about how he's not supposed to play with the fireplace screen. Finally, he left it alone. He went to his toy bucket, pulled out a ball (he LOVES balls of all sizes and colors - and has QUITE a collection), a chunked it toward the fireplace! Not only did it go near the fireplace...it went through the screen doors and landed in soot! Yuck.
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