Crying it Out and Other Tales

Well, I finally did what I told myself I'd never do. I let my son cry it out. And cry it out and cry it out... the first 5 days were awful. My normally happy, enthusiastic child was depressed, would not laugh, and was so clingy I couldn't leave the room. Now, after 10 days, he's much happier, but the second you get up to take him to his crib he starts to scream, and average beginning crying is 10-15 minutes. It breaks my heart hearing him cry, not to mention missing having a snuggly baby in our bed. But I guess it has to happen to the best of us, if you have a stubborn baby who wants to sleep on his own terms.

And it's been a while, so sit back and relax while I regale you with current stories.

Adam has been trying to run for a while, and he's getting pretty good. He can't corner well, but he can sure escape when we're playing chase (which he LOVES... giggles and giggles as he tries to get away!). He's also taken an interest in climbing... so far he can get on our couch and on the rocking ottoman (I was impressed) by himself. Which brings me to...

Adam's decided to start terrible two-ing a little early. As of yesterday, when he can't do something (like climb on the green chair) or I take something away, he has a fit. A red-faced, gritted-teeth screaming fit. As funny as it is, it's really not funny. We'll have to get a video of it sometime.

He's also taken an enormous interest in books. The first thing he goes to in the morning is his book basket. He brings me books to read to him. He "reads" them on the furniture, lying down on the floor, even cuddled up in his Dinosaur (see Christmas blog), which he thinks is a little seat just for him. He lounges with his arm draped over its head while he reads. It's heartwarming, since I love books.

Here he lounges, not with a book, but with his beloved cheese grater.

His words are getting more understandable. He calls me "mama" and Steve "baba" (only once did he actually say "dada"), and several times he's given us hugs and said "I ove you". Melt, melt. He's said a few other words, too.

Recently, at church, he's gotten these giggling fits. It usually happens during sacrament meeting, but today it was during Sunday School.
We made a little corner corral by strategically placing chairs at the end of our row. It worked pretty well; we were actually able to make comments.

He also likes bubble baths, we discovered. He leans over to eat the bubbles and comes up with a perfect little beard and mustache. Today we accidentally used normal bubble bath instead of the baby kind, and there were mountains of bubbles! He thoroughly enjoyed himself.


He's also really, really good at figuring out how to do things. It is never safe to assume something is a) closed too tightly to be opened, b) out of his reach, or c) an impossible puzzle that he will tire of and leave alone. There is always a way and he will find it!

And that's just a few of the things that have been going on. I know it's been a while, but I no longer have time to myself with Steve back in school and Adam not sleeping very long during the day. He may be sleeping more at night, but he is sleeping a lot less during the day. I'm still not convinced that crying it out is beneficial. We'll give it another week.

One last funny thing from Steve: I was trying to figure out what dinner to make and how much since I signed up to bring it to two families. I said aloud, "So two people get dinner tonight...." and Steve raised his hand and said, "Me! Can I be one of those two people?" I just laughed. I meant, besides the three of us... :)

Oh, and here's one more thing Adam learned how to do. I think the picture explains itself.