...in which L is concerned that whomever is raising her child isn't doing such a great job

Lately L has become slightly concerned about the raising of the Peanut. Who's in charge of this anyway? When does the organization who will make evaluations and then give feedback arrive? When all is said and done, who is L allowed to complain to about the way things are being run?

It often seems that 'Nut wakes up each morning with a checklist of things that drive L crazy, and tries to complete as many items as possible. In addition, the 'Nut has managed to turn many exciting and cheerfully anticipated milestones into befuddling, and often concerning quirks.

For Example:

L and Ox used baby sign language with the 'Nut. This resulted in his early development of language but not speech. He is just now really into the 'repeating stage' (note: this has resulted in many asides with L's younger sisters about appropriate language) that L has been looking forward to so much. However as a necessary nod to his title of  'World's Orneriest Baby', 'Nut prefaces every repeated phrase with the word 'No'. i.e. (said by L) "Peanut would you please pick up your magnet letters" = (repeated by Peanut) "No Peanut pick up magnet letters"... (L again) "We need to wait for Bapa to get home before we eat" = (Peanut, don't forget the whine in the voice) "No need to wait for Bapa to get home before we eat". The repetition has reached quite impressive heights in both length of phrase repeated and pronunciation of words but all the good is overshadowed by the sheer orneriness of the reply. And as an added bonus this adorable little tic is not limited by things he doesn't want to do, or even things said to him. The other, particularly joyful, day while L and 'Nut were in the car listening to the radio the town Stillwater was mentioned by the DJ and Peanut could be heard, shouting form the back seat, "No Stillwater!".

Another Example:

Now L doesn't remember being a very imaginative child herself. So, she has been very excited for Peanut to reach the phase where he imagines things himself. She can still fondly remember the day, not too long ago, when she found 'Nut pretending to be a lion. How precious! However, 'Nut doesn't seem to be inclined to imagine himself in any scenario where he is not the 'bad guy'. He is the monster attacking you, his friends, his mom, the dogs; after watching Bug's Life he was a grasshopper; he is a tiger trying to eat you; he is a dragon destroying your crops and home; he is a shark attacking the little Nemo fish. The other day after reading a book about sea creatures he attacked L both in the guise of an 'evil octopus' and an 'evil shark'. The only 'good' character he plays is Bapa (Dad) to L's oldest, falling apart baby doll, who he renamed Eva, and carries around like a queen.

L fully expects to, someday soon, turn this post in as a record of how things are going so that Peanut's pay and benefits may be docked accordingly.