Grinding coffee. It's fun!

As an infant, Henry was terrified of the coffee grinder. It was loud, it was sudden, and it made him cry. A lot.

So, we tried a little Pavlovian experiment. Before grinding our coffee every morning, we started cheering and yelling.

Erin/Dave: Woooooooo! Oh ya! Go! Go! Go! Wooooo! Coffee, yay!

Grinder: Grrrrrrrrrrr

It took a few weeks to work, but Henry eventually started cheering right along with us. His brainwashing was so thorough, we didn't even have to cheer ourselves.

Grinder: Grrrrrr

Baby Henry: Yaaay!

We still have a carry-over of those times in our morning coffee ritual. Alice and Jane never had a big problem with the grinder, but we do give them the courtesy of announcing when we're about to use it.

Me: Noisy, guys. Here it comes.

Grinder: Grrrrrrr

This morning as I ground the coffee, I looked over at the kids playing with Lego at the kitchen table. Jane and Alice had their hands over their ears. They looked at each other with big smiles and experimented with changing the sound by moving their hands on and off their heads.

Henry wasn't part of that game, but I caught a twinkle in his eye. I believe he was thinking a 'yay!' inside his head.