Oh, Toddlerhood

Just when I thought I had this thing called toddlerhood down pat... Jeremiah decides to mix things up and throw new challenges my way! Nap time and bedtime used to be a breeze. Sing a few songs, lay him down with his beloved teddy bear, close the door and he was in dream land. Not any more! Now Jeremiah has this new game where he throws his bear out of the crib as soon as I start to walk out- and will not stop wailing until I go back in and fetch it for him! I played along the first night he did it- but not any more! I'm tired of it! He needs to learn. Last night he only cried for two minutes before he conked out. Today he decided to do this at NAPTIME as well. I put him down 15 minutes ago and I can still hear him crying. Oh, lordy.

I can also tell that Jeremiah is starting to understand what is right and what is wrong for things that I do not want him to do. He will start to do something naughty (ex: climb onto the coffee table) but as soon as he sees me coming or look his way, he usually will correct his behavior. At least he's showing some good judgement- but other times, oh man! He makes a game out of me correcting the behavior for him (i.e. pulling him off the coffee table and telling him NO) and will laugh his head off while I'm doing it. He's starting to test me and I don't like it.

I never thought that raising a child would be easy! But seeing as he's my first, I'm still learning everything right along with him. How to discipline a child so young is so new to me. He finally has sharing his toys with Sydney down- he doesn't care if she plays with his toys and, for the most part, doesn't take something he wants out of her hands. He will play along with her if he wants something that she has, like his fisher price piano. No real discipline was needed here; he just had to get used to her being around. But what about when he's testing me like I just described?

We finally got smart and put a gate up in the hallway to block the bathroom and spare bedroom (storage room) where he's obviously not allowed to play. Now that he's able to turn knobs I'm tired of constantly running over to the bathroom or spare bedroom and pull him out of there, while he's laughing his head off. The gate is a blessing. It makes my life so much easier. But I don't want to block everything he's not supposed to touch or climb on. How in the world do you teach a child self control?!

And lets not even get started on his picky eating. I think he's going to be on baby food when he's in kindergarten at the rate he's going. He refuses to touch anything that looks new. It's baby food, cream of wheat, bread, cheese, cheerios, bannannas, goldfish, granola, and animal crackers ONLY for him. I never thought I would have to coax a child to eat ice cream but he won't touch it. At least he's getting his fruits and veggies in with the baby food. The stage 3 casseroles are hit and miss with him. Some times he'll gobble up the spagetti, lasagna, chicken noodle, etc.; other days he wont touch them. Same with the baby meats. I worry that he's not getting enough protein. Every mom worries about what her child eats. I just pray this one doesn't grow up being as picky as his daddy.

But then he does something sweet, like wanting to cuddle with me for an hour while I sing his favorite songs over and over again (and letting me know that he does NOT want me to stop!) and it makes everything worth it.