New Things

There are so many cute things that Bean has been doing lately.

So BIG!

- Gives kisses: When you ask for a kiss he opens his mouth super wide and plants it on any body part that is close to him. Sometimes though he closes his mouth and bites! I found this out the hard way when I puckered my lips and let him plant a big one on me, only to have him take a big chomp on my lower lip (he has upper and lower teeth now. . . ouch).

- Talking: Welllllll, kind of. He for sure can say Dada, kitty, and yeah. I thought he had Mama down, but I think he thinks Mama means milk and not me. I'm not sure though. There are times where I swear he has said doggy (at least his version of it, it sounds more like daga), and all done (sounds more like ah-dan). He is extremely verbal though. Constantly talking in his own babble language. It's crazy how much it mimics normal conversation sounds, with all the inflection he uses. It seems like he is so close to talking a ton, I'm just waiting for the day for the words to start pouring out.

- Smarty Pants: It's true, he understands a TON now. Simple tricks no longer work, like hiding toys out of sight and telling him they are gone. If he sees the general place you stashed it he will go hunting for it.

Ok so now I want to talk about some of the challenges we are facing lately.

- Picky Eater: He is quickly becoming a very picky eater. At meals if I give him food he doesn't like I swear he just chugs down his milk and fills up on that. If I give him food he likes he will maybe drink half a sippy cup of milk with it. With a meal that he doesn't like he will drink a cup and a half! He used to love veggies and now he just throws them. I'm never sure what to do when he refuses to eat. I feel guilty and don't want him to go hungry, and also selfishly I know if he doesn't eat something he will be a huge crab. I also feel like he is still too little to do the whole "eat what's in front of you or don't eat" thing. I just don't know what to do.

- Hitting: I'm thinking (hoping) that this is just from communication frustration, but Bean has begun to hit (mainly me). If he is into something that he shouldn't be and I pick him up he will try to smack me in the face or rip my glasses off. The other day he was flailing in my arms and ripped a big chunk of hair out of my head. It's rough. . . and again, I'm not sure how to handle it. All I've been doing is grabbing the hand he is hitting me with and saying "no hit," but it doesn't seem to be working.

- Screaming for diaper changes: I remember when Bean was a new born and he loved to have his diaper changed. He would kick his legs and smile so big. Now he runs in the opposite direction when it's time to change his diaper. He kicks his legs and screams his head off. This gets old really fast because since we are cloth diapering I have to change him at least every 2 hours. That's a lot of baby wrangling. I should also note that he only does this for Hubs and I. If my parents or the sitter changes his diaper he's fine with it. He just sits there all nice and plays with a toy. The first time I saw him be so good I couldn't believe my eyes. It's hard not to take it personal.

- Not listening: Recently Bean has discovered how to shake his head no. . . . and ever since then he refuses to do anything I tell him to do. It usually goes like this:

Me: Come here Bean!

Bean: *shakes head no* runs in opposite direction

Me: Give Mama's phone back Bean.

Bean: *shakes head no* runs in opposite direction

etc etc etc

The second year of Bean's life is proving much more difficult then the first. I suppose other then breast feeding issues he was a really easy infant. I think a lot of it is communication issues. I try to teach him sign language, but maybe I'm not trying hard enough with it as I should.

Next post I'm going to try and put a bunch of other cute/fun things Bean is doing, because it seems like this post has turned into me complaining. Sorry about that!