Cute Things

I just wanted to jot down some things that Bean has been doing lately, because they are cute and I don't want to forget them.

1. He plays around my legs. Tonight when we were visiting at my parents house the dog was chasing him/he was chasing the dog. When it was his turn to run, he would toddle over to me giggling, grab me, and then hide his face in my legs. He also did something similar when Bestie came for a visit on Saturday night. We were all in the kitchen and she was trying to say hi to him. He toddled over to me and wrapped his arms around my legs and peaked around the side of me at her. Mr. Shy Guy.

2. Tonight when we got back from my parents house I let Bean toddle around the family room while I put some stuff away. I was in the kitchen and he came walking in holding my big 32oz water bottle in his hands. It was such a sight to see; this little guy (with his snow hat still on), in his brown fleece sweat suit, walking, holding onto my water bottle with both hands, and drinking all at the same time. He must have been thirsty. It was one of those moments where you don't have a camera so you say to yourself, remember this remember this. It was just so adorable. . . .and so grown up looking.

A Rough January

The first month of the year has been a rough one for our little Bean. I feel like in the past two weeks my sweet baby boy has been replaced with Mr. Grumpy Pants.

First of all I think he's teething. He still only has just the bottom and top two teeth and he's 13 months old. Those lateral incisors are bound to be trying to pop through soon.

Second is weaning. Over the past 5 weeks we have weaned down to only nursing first thing in the morning when he wakes up. This is the one time of day I can ensure that I will always be there to nurse him (because of work). It's been hard for both of us I think. One of the most heart breaking things is I feel like I'm taking it away from him just when he learned how to ask for it (by signing). My milk supply has never been great, so even if he asks during the day now, and I let him try to nurse; there is nothing there to drink so he gets frustrated and cries.

The final thing has been a change in routine. Most mornings I will go get him, nurse him in bed, and then we will snuggle and watch cartoons for maybe 30-45 minutes. Well lately on my days off I've been trying to be more active by getting stuff done, and I don't think he likes it.

He's only 13 months old and I swear he throws temper tantrums. The other night while I was trying to cook dinner he screamed the whole time it took me to make it (almost 45 minutes). He was pulling on my pants and throwing himself on the ground. I would pick him up and he would push me away, and then I'd put him down and he would scream even louder. I even tried putting him in the Ergo so I could still cook and he didn't want that either. This fit all started when I took his paci away.

I know he's frustrated because he can't communicate and he doesn't fully understand what's going on. . . .but it's so hard to handle when he's like that. I also don't want to hold, coddle, or give him his pacifier to calm him too often because I don't want to create bad habits.

So any advice for me? Any parenting books to recommend? Is this just a phase? If it is, I sure hope it passes quickly.