opposites attract

at least for caleb they do. he is really interested in opposites right now. his first introduction to opposites was big and little. we started talking about it by making "great big giant" balls of playdough and "little tiny baby" balls of playdough. and then we had "great big giant" dog stuffed animals and "little tiny baby" dog stuffed animals. for a while, he wouldn't even say "big", he would just make some growling, "great big giant" sound. now's he's starting to branch out to explore other opposites...
tight and loose: we talk about this when getting into his car seat. i'll pull the seat belt tight and then way loose. back and forth. it was fun and he learned tight and loose all right... but now every time he gets into his seat, he complains that it is "tight". i'm creating a monster!
loud and quiet: i read in a book (or maybe i saw it on tv) that the best way to teach a dog to be quiet is to teach them the command "speak". then they just start barking when told to bark. anyway, caleb learned loud and quiet in a similar way... playing the drums (aka hitting a pillow with lincoln logs). he was banging too loudly so we taught him how to play loud and quiet. it's cute now to watch him see just how quiet he can be. of course, he still prefers loud.
over and under: i think caleb's gram taught him this one by helping him step over a blanket. for a while he then wanted to put everything on the ground and step over it. and under is an easy one... what little boy doesn't drive cars under tunnels made of blocks?
off and on: actually, maybe this was caleb's first opposite. off was one of his first words. we must have spent hours with him laying on his changing table and asking for the light switch "ott" and "on".
there are probably more, but that's all i have for right now...