August 31st, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Not Ready For This

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August 31st, 2010

Missed It

The things you miss when you go to the post office… I cam home to a soaking wet, pantless, but happy baby. My husband said, “Well, he can turn the spigot.” I looked out the window and saw pants, socks and shoes laid over a chair to dry. I guess they went outside to water the plants. Spencer toddled around on the grass and the patio for a little while, but was apparently watching hubs fill the watering can. After a few minutes, hubs glanced over just as Spencer turned the spigot himself, soaking himself and the patio. That boy is a quick learner!

August 30th, 2010

Saying No

I was not prepared for the relentless need to say no. No Spencer, don’t fling yourself off the couch. No Spencer, don’t throw my phone. No Spencer, it is not nice to gouge out my eye. No biting. No climbing. No pinching. No throwing food. No spitting food. No. No. No.

It is sucking out my soul. I ended up curled up in a ball on the floor, near tears, because I couldn’t take saying it anymore. With him smacking me in the face of course. Up until now, I felt like I was taking to this whole parenting thing pretty well, but now I am at an utter loss. I’ve tried distraction. I’ve tried redirection. I’ve tried trading the off-limits item for a toy. There is about a 50% success rate with the other half of the time resulting in screaming and crying.

I think it is book time. I’m looking at No-Cry Discipline Solution and Happiest Toddler on the Block. I also think I need some more local friends. Or maybe I just need to make more of an effort with the few that I do have. I’m feeling frustrated and trapped in the house, but at the same time feeling too lazy to go anywhere. Maybe Spencer is acting out because he is bored. He didn’t act like this in San Francisco. One thing is clear, some things have to change or I am going to go insane.

August 28th, 2010

13 Months

Spencer turned 13 months yesterday. Wow! I have no idea where August went. It seems like his party was just a few days a go, probably because we still have one of the banners up and I haven’t done the thank you notes yet. I just got so caught up in the San Francisco trip and then this last week has been recovery from that; I still don’t have one of the bags all the way unpacked. Maybe I am just lazy. That would also explain the lack of unpacking and thank you note writing.

We had is 1 year appointment a little bit late. He is doing well, finally cracked the 50th percentile in weight and is back up to the 95th in height. I still don’t know the point of the head circumference, but he is in the 75th. All in all, I am pleased. We got the fluoride lecture again, but (again) I mentioned that he gets tap water and our is fluoridated so we are good on that front. The doctor didn’t seem concerned that he won’t drink milk because we are still breastfeeding. She also seemed to think I deserved some sort of award for still breastfeeding considering all of the problems we had in the beginning. I didn’t mention the fact that our success is due to twitter, finding a LC with a support group and ignoring any advice that came from the doctor’s office.

Developmentally, he seems to be on track. He is walking all the time now, with a few ill-fated attempts at running. Those were pretty funny: step, step, step, stepstepstep, splat. I shouldn’t laugh, but he is a good faller and gets up smiling. He is up to almost 10 words with a new one every couple days. He can recognize objects and follow directions.

We are approaching the scary place of boundaries and discipline and I feel a little unprepared and unsettled. He learned how to climb yesterday and I don’t know how to keep him off the trunk, chairs and tables. I say no, remove him and try to redirect, but it is not working. He also is biting, A lot. And not just when he is nursing, he bit me on my arm the other day, hard enough to leave a bruise. When I say no, he laughs at me. I do not like the way that makes me feel. There will be a longer post on this soon, I am sure. Any book recommendations or suggestions are welcome in the comments.