Nathan has finally started helping me get him dressed!

I was getting him ready for bed, and normally when I’m putting his shirt on, I have to hold the armholes open, reach through with my fingers, grab his flailing hand, and drag his arm through the armhole while Nathan protests loudly and strains against me.

I don’t know why. I’ve only been dressing him EVERY SINGLE DAY OF HIS ENTIRE 16-MONTH LIFE. The way he acts, you’d think I was trying to make him eat cow-tongue or something equally protest worthy.

But tonight, he put his hand through the armhole without my help! On his own! And I didn’t have to sternly furrow my eyebrows or use The Voice. (If you’re a parent or ever around children, YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT).

That boy does not like to get dressed, so him putting his arm through the armhole on his own volition was huge. As in, climbing Mount Everest huge. Getting a toddler to do what you want them to do is psychological warfare, so when they finally comply and it’s peaceful, there’s this huge rush of relief knowing the enormous amount of energy you’ve expended teaching your toddler how to behave is paying off. Normally, changing his shirts means lots of protesting, writhing, hand flailing, whining, and even a petulant “humph” or two as he angrily crosses his arms over his Buddha Belly in an attempt to prevent compliance. Changing his clothes can be quite the workout… for both of us.

I hope this compliance lasts because I love not having shirt changes morph into The Toddler’s Apocalypse. Because, to a toddler, anything that is not the way he wants it IS THE END OF THE WORLD.

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