Greetings From Me + My 9 Month Old
Hello dear friends! This week has been CRAYZEEEE. Really crazy! I mean, beyond crazy! We had our wallpaper finished in the entryway (LOVE) but some needed to be stripped and reapplied because it was installed wonky. Ugh. But it is all set as of today. Plus I've been supah busy with my little boy because he is mega active crawling and practicing his mad walking skillz -- we are just a non-stop party here at planet baby from dawn to dusk. AND. WELL...
(There is always an "AND, WELL..." with little ones) Our baby has entered some new stage - it's like BOOM! - he turned 9 months on Sunday and the next day he was having major attachment anxiety whenever we laid him down to sleep at night and during the day, my little scheduled napper (2x a day, sometimes 3!) from the day he came home suddenly turned into I SLEEP WHEN I WANT napper. None of this bothers me, I mean what can you do, he's a baby for God's sake. I can't take away his iPhone or ban him from using SnapChat, so I'm just rollin' with it.
But man, my little dude turned his new age and yowser... It's like HELLO NEW BABY and what did you do with the son I had just gotten used to for the past 9 months?
And there is something else. He is expressing frustration in ways that make me want to laugh really hard. But I don't. But I want to because his frustration is always shown in the most comical ways. So okay, imagine this scenario. Him: Sitting in his high chair eating his carrot puree something or another. Me. Facing him, also seated, making faces, singing songs and coaxing him into eating because suddenly mealtime went from normal eating to let's! play! with! our! food! and! grab! the! spoon! non-stop! Eating has turned into a 45 minute circus and I'm the clown.
There I am feeding him and suddenly with the force of 100 men, he grabs the spoon that I'm using and tries to flip it so the food goes everywhere. What I then usually do, depending on my own schedule, is:
- Option 1. Could care less, let him grab it, throw it, smear it, play with it, whatever. Puree for all!
- Option 2: If we need to leave soon or I have work to get to, I usually
pry the spoon from his hand using the jaws of lifetake it gently out of his hand and try to continue feeding him.
BUT.
A highly emotional domino reaction usually follows if Option 2 was deployed. First, a long very deep grunt. Then, his face reddens. He sticks his arms straight down and makes very tight fists. His grunt gets more intense and deeper. A moan. A bit intimating honestly. He stares into my eyes. His eyebrows go dark red. He wants the spoon back - he did not like that I took it from him. He is literally turning into the Incredible Hulk. I wait for his buttons to fly off his shirt.
The whole time I want to burst out laughing (it's super cute watching all of this because there is clearly no reason to express so much emotion) but I need to respect his emotions because it feels wrong to invalidate him. So I just talk him down out of his tree in my gentle mommy voice, remain caring and sweet and change the subject. Usually he'll move on quickly shown by laughing at nothing in particular or planting big wet kisses all over my face.
This has to be a stage. Right? Or is he a teenager trapped inside of a 9 month old body? But wow, baby emotions are something else. Intense. And also very hard to make much sense out of.
Yeah so because his sleep schedule has changed and because I have so much stuff already going on in my life (new book deal I'm negotiating, house redecoration project, tons of work stuff, wrapped up my current 4 week long Blog Boss e-course today with 400 students (!), prepping for 5 business consults next week) it really is bonkers crazy here. Which is why I went missing on decor8 this week.
But you know something that is funny about all of this baby stuff? I don't mind it now that the sleepy swaddled child changed into an energetic fireball that is apparently a very passionate little person. And I swear I'm not playing Pollyanna to save face nor am I secretly smokin' funny things in the laundry room so I can fool all of you because truth be told some days I'm like SERIOUSLY? This? Again? But through it all I am learning a lot about myself (I'm a damn patient women and a really committed, good mother, a surprise to me because you never know what kind of mother you will be until you have a child)... I also love having this little boy to care for - my little son - because it's rewarding and gives me yet another wonderful thing to live for -- another reason to get up, work harder, be better. I like the "crazy" in it all. I like that there are new emotions in our home, this new energy, so young and spirited. It's nice to have a little challenge, some friction, a new opinion around here to shake things up and bring in a fresh new perspective. I've always loved having change and movement and zeal in my life and now I do. An 80cm tall tornado.
See you tomorrow, I'll be back to blogging regularly again.
By the way moms out there, is all I just talked about a 9 month old thing?
(images: holly becker for decor8)