Tim says Ben acts completely different around me than around him, and I don't understand it. Today, Ben and Tim had a great day together and they were napping when I got home from work. Ben is "fragile" when he wakes up from a nap and probably wanted to nurse while he woke up fully. He has been fine with nursing only in the morning and at bedtime, so trying to be consistent with that emerging pattern, I resisted nursing. He cried full blast for a good 15 minutes, kicking and arching his back and pushing away from being held. We both tried several different distraction temptations and he pushed them all away. Then all of a sudden, he was fine. I don't get it. Other times, I need to stop playing with him or put him down to do something else (usually the trigger is that I'm tired of walking with him) and he acts like I'm abandoning him forever. Even if I get down on the floor and hug him and talk to him and explain what I'm doing, he still cries. He will stop crying only if I pick him up. I end up feeling that I'm horrible mother for needing to get dressed or clean the litter boxes, but then I think about families with 5 children or 8 children - how in the world do those mothers give their children enough attention??
I picked up my copy of "What to Expect, The Toddler Years" last night and started to get worried again. For 15 months, it says "Your toddler should be able to walk well, bend over and pick up an object, use at least 1 word; will probably be able to use 2 words, drink from a cup, scribble, point to a desired object; may possibly be able to point to 1 body part when asked, use a spoon/fork, build a tower of 2 cubes." For 14, 15, and 16 months, it says your toddler may even be able to run, walk up steps, use 6 words or more, follow a 2-step verbal command." So, I started worrying that Benny is delayed. It also says "See your doctor if your toddler ... is perpetually irritable, or demands constant attention." Then tonight, I read the book to Tim and we reassured ourselves that Ben is fine. We asked him "where is your nose?" and he immediately pointed to my nose and then Tim's nose! Then, we asked him where his shoe is and he pointed to his shoe! Then I asked him to give me a kiss and he leaned over to my face. He can definitely bend over to pick something up, stack blocks, point to desired objects, etc. So, he won't walk quite yet and he has only 1 word, but I think he's OK. He doesn't really demand constant attention and is quite happy much of the time. My new boss has a prodigy child (22 months old) and I need to remind myself to enjoy hearing about her, but refuse to compare her and Ben.
Other stuff:
Did I say already that one day when I went to pick Benny up from Rebecca's, he smiled at me, but refused to go to me? He kept turning to hug Rebecca again and again. I was mostly glad to see that he loves her. Bella and Bobby (Rebecca's daughter and another daycare child) come bounding to the door most mornings when we get there saying "Baby Ben is here! Baby Ben is here!" He smiles at them. Becca, Bella, Bobby, and Benny!
His new favorite activity is putting coins in his piggy bank. We also played with stickers a couple of weeks ago and I love to watch his little fingers struggle. His fine motor skills seem really good, though I don't know what to compare them to, I just think it is great that he can turn the coin in the direction to go in the piggy bank slot, etc.
He is talking so much and it is so cute and sweet, though it is still just gibberish. "Gello, gullo, whhay, bootch, hulla!" It seems like he is trying almost all the alphabet. We need to try to catch some on video so we can remember it.
I really don't worry as much as it sounds like I do. I concentrate on enjoying him and giving him love and attention. Tim and I say hundreds of times a day "He's so amazing! He's so sweet! He's such a good boy!"
Sweet, sweet, sweetie!
No comments:
Post a Comment