The Baby Andrea

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February 19, 2003. So much for being more punctual! Entropy Boy is now a few days short of 2¾, and acts it. Most of the time he's a real charmer, but when he doesn't want to do something, you can hear it in the next state! (Granted, the next state is only a few miles away...) Fortunately, he can usually be tricked into doing things -- I had no idea how useful "reverse psychology" would turn out to be, nor how predictably he would respond to it!

Big changes in the language department since last time, as one might expect. His vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds, and although he has hung on to some babble, he speaks mostly in 3-4 word sentences, and knows what to say to get things he wants. He's started to throw in some articles ("a" and " the") and many of his sentences are even understandable to people not his mother!

Current favorites include: Aardman animation ("Wallace and Gromit," "Creature Comforts," and "Chicken Run"); drawing "pictures" with markers; playing with various trains (he knows Thomas train by name, even though he's never seen the show and has only one real Thomas set); going for walks (that, it seems, will never change!); visiting the library; reading books (especially Maisy -- he has a pretty good collection of the Maisy pop-ups); telling other kids what to do (as in, "No, not books! Play trains!" at the library); throwing things down the stairs to see how high they bounce (or something... who knows what's going through his head?); running and jumping; getting out all of his toys and not helping put them back; and generally increasing entropy in our house. Foods he likes include: oranges, apples, grapes, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, broccoli, celery, cucumber, corn (on the cob or frozen), peas, Goldfish, American cheese, string cheese, occasional chicken nuggets, very occasional fast-food burgers, fish sticks ( the skinny kind), soy milk, rice, fries, and most of all, chocolate. I have no idea how much he weighs now, except that he's getting pretty hard to hold for long periods!

the worst things in the universe according to Stephen right now are: taking a vitamin at bedtime (in the morning is fine); brushing teeth at bedtime (also fine in the morning); being asked to sit at the table to eat (though it's fine if he does it voluntarily); having to leave the library, especially if it's because of his behaviour with other kids; wanting to go play at bedtime and instead being told to lie down and go to sleep already; and generally not being allowed to do things he wants to do but that are impractical, impossible, or unlawful.

I guess the biggest change we've had lately is that I'm weaning him. I really wanted to let him self-wean, especially since it's such an important thing to him, but because of an even bigger change that will, if all goes well, be taking place around the end of September, it was no longer comfortable for me to nurse him. So it's been almost a week since his last nurse, and although he still wakes up wanting to, he's been very good about it. A few nights ago, he actually gave me a pat and said, "I sorry dis hurts," and snuggled up and went to sleep very nicely. I feel awful about weaning him this way, because every time he'd try to latch on, I couldn't help but say "Ouch!" or make a face, and I think he thought that it was his fault it hurt, and he'd cry every time. I know a lot of people think that even two years is a year too many, but it was right for Stephen and me, and I'm sad that part of our relationship is over now. But on the other hand, he seems to be coping very well with it, much better than I'd expected. I hope getting him into his own bed is as simple!

Think that's about it for now. Hugs and kisses (yep, big, wet, Stephen kisses) to all, and enjoy the new pictures!

Previous Stephen updates: November 2002, August 2002, May 2002; April 2002; March 2002; February 2002; November 2001.