If you play with fire...

We're a fire building house. We have a fire-pit in the backyard and a wood-burning fireplace in the house.

My husband can build a roaring fire in 4.7 seconds flat regardless of materials, damp wood, or wind. But when he wanted to build a fire in the pit a few months ago, I was terrified about an open flame with the baby. It doesn't help that I'm a little skittish around fire anyways (maybe I'll tell that story one day).

I just had visions of turning my head and the baby being upside down in the fire. After some convincing that she needed to learn how to behave around fire, we built one.

Yannos taught her to say, "No, no, no" to the fire. I think we successfully terrified the baby.

Around the same time, our power went out for a few days and we had a fire going the whole time. We even cooked bacon in the fireplace.

This time was a little more confusing because we were interacting with the fire so much, when in the past I told her that fire is something we sit far away from and stare at.

She went a long time without seeing fire at all.

Then, the other day she was sitting on the kitchen floor with a Crate and Barrel catalog. That's a normal thing for toddlers to read, right? And I hear...

Utterly confused, I ignore her and continue making breakfast. But she keeps going. 

"No, no, no!"

I finally look at the catalog and she is pointing to a fireplace way in the background. It doesn't even have a fire in it. 

She also does it with Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny.

NO, NO, NO!

At least there's actual fire. 

We can't even walk through the garage without her yelling at the fire pit.

We've created a monster!