Child o’ Mine
Erik refused to nurse tonight. Is the end in sight? Please, divine being, say it’s so!
After he rolled around crying for ten minutes, I called in the big guns. I am completely unable to put the child asleep without the power of the magic boobies. I forgot what the dulcet tones of a miserable newborn sound like. Gah! I bet Mike comes out of the room with a black eye and a missing family jewel. It sounds like there’s the war to end all wars going on in there.
Yes, my son is 2 1/2 years old.
Yes, we still have major sleep issues.
Yes, we have to spoon feed him if we want him to eat a good meal.
I’m taking a page from the Moxie post today and telling all my secrets. It’s not that I’m ashamed of these things in and of themselves. We do what we do because it works/we don’t know what else to do/it’s just how the boy is. I keep them secret because I don’t want to hear or see the judgement from other people.
Whoa. . .
And now the child is asleep. Only took daddy five minutes.
Speaking of the child and the daddy. . .
I was a very bad anti-sugar person today and decided that 87F weather DEMANDS ice cream. I pictured taking Erik into a little ice cream shop and the utter joy he would experience when he got to have a whole scoop to himself.
I was so right.
I’ve never seen the boy so happy. He sat at the table like a big boy and ate with the spoon all by himself (which is why the spoon feeding things drives me UP THE BLEEPITY-BLEEP WALL. He is perfectly capable of using a spoon). He kept telling me, “delicious, mommy! Yummy! Thank you!” I was joking with him and telling him not to tell daddy that we ate ice cream today. Not that daddy will care, except that he doesn’t need to know I totally failed my no-sugar diet this week just in time for PMS, but what else am I going to talk to him about?
So we pick up Mike from the train right after we leave the ice cream shop and Mike starts asking Erik what he did today. He’ll never tell Mike anything about the day and for a long time he didn’t say anything while I blathered on about our preschool lesson and tried to get him to show the animal motions we learned.
Then the little monster ratted me out!
“We bought ice cream today!”
It rang out in the car, clear as a bell.
Can you believe the little stinker?
Can you believe I just used the words “little stinker?” Those sound so grandma-ish, but what else am I going to call him?
Topic Change
My mom wants a Shutterfly photo book for Mother’s Day. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
I love giving her the books and I love getting a copy for ourselves. They are handy and dandy and the perfect thing for storing memories. However, I was a very bad girl and didn’t follow through on my New Year’s Resolution. Instead, of creating a few pages of photo book at the end of every month, I’ve got all the pictures lumped around on my hard drive. Getting a photo book ready by Mother’s Day doesn’t seem possible. Not unless I neglect my child and my new and improved social life.
And speaking of my new and improved social life! I invited four girls out to a girl’s night out and all four are coming! (News to you, I know, Tora, but the one who never responded just didn’t get the e-mail). I really need to have more confidence.
Another Topic Change
I really want to get a bike for the summer. I have two fears. 1) We live in hilly land and I hate riding up hills. 2) Erik won’t be good in his seat.
Back when I was pregnant I was convinced that a bike trailer was the way to go. I’m sure julival wanted to stab my dense brain with an ice pick when I kept insisting that a bike trailer was simple. You just strap the kid in and go! She kept telling me that I would probably wreck because I would be turning around, checking on the baby, but I was completely stupid and clueless. “What do you mean? Why would I need to check on the baby? It’ll be strapped in!” Julie, you exhibited great patience. You may tell me you told me so. Anyway, a bike trailer totally won’t work. I’ll get in a wreck because I’d have to constantly be turned around, checking to make sure Erik is still strapped in.
A back baby seat seems really dangerous. I’m not a very confident bike rider, so having a wiggly, squirming child on the back seems like a bad idea.
A front baby seat might be the way to go. It seems like the wiggly, squirming kid would not have such an effect on balance, but I don’t know. Does anyone know? It is unlikely I will actually get a bike this year since we are trying to save money for a house, but you never know when an opportunity for a free or cheap bike will come up.
The hills. . . could I really do the hills?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Eric refused to nurse? as in your son? really? I’m shocked, but YAY!
beck’s last blog post..The eyes have it.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
You might enjoy Barton Schmidt’s book Your Baby and Child, which has some older-skool advice about discipline. His take: Kids won’t deliberately hurt themselves permanently through head banging or voluntarily starve to death, even to be stubborn.
Can you let Mike do bedtime for a week or so?
Mommyprof’s last blog post..I have a bad attitude
April 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Since Baby was born, Peanut has tried to regress. She’ll sit at the table and refuse to eat unless we feed her. I’m a mean mom. I let her sit there or go play. Eventually she gets hungry enough that she forgets her snit and eats – usually cheese & tortilla, yogurt, fruit – something I won’t kick myself for later. Don’t want her to have the food issues I have.
April 26th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I spoon fed mine longer than most people thought was okay. They could use a spoon but they prefered not to sometimes. It put my mind more at ease to go ahead and feed them and KNOW that they had had a good meal. But, that’s just me.
He’ll get to the point where he doesn’t want you to feed him anymore and he’ll take over. That’s what my kiddos did. It probably won’t be too much longer either. But regardless, don’t beat yourself up over it or think that it’s wrong, all children are different and all parents are different. What works for one may not work for another. You just have to do what works for ya’ll.
April 27th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I haven’t spoonfed my kid since she was, I don’t know, ten months or so, but my sister-in-law still does it and her kid is, um…I think he’ll be three next fall? Anyway, if you don’t mind it, then don’t worry about it. Personally I would be bored out of my mind sitting there doing it. I can’t tell you all the stuff I get done while she’s trapped, eating, in her high chair–the dishes, the sweeping, the reading, whatever. But it’s not like he’ll need to be spoonfed forever.
I am constitutionally unable to congratulate you on having a child not want to nurse, since all I wanted in the world for a very long time was a child who DID want to nurse, but I’m happy you are happy!