life with a new baby
Posts tagged crying
Mean Ole Mommy
Aug 21st
So here lately, whenever Nathan gets in trouble for something, he stretches out his arms, toddles up to me, and gives me kisses and hugs. Even with little tears streaming down his face.
It doesn’t matter if I say a simple “No, not for Nathan” or “Don’t touch that, little guy.” His eyes well up with sparkling tears, his chin quivers, and he starts wailing a broken ambulance siren. Then he throws his little arms around my neck and kisses me.
That’s why I can never be mad at the little guy. He’s such a sensitive, precious sweetheart, and it breaks my heart when I have to hurt his little feelings and not let him do something that could cause him to get hurt, such as playing with electrical cords or grabbing the scissors the millisecond that I have my head turned. (How DO their little hands move SO quickly?). The way he acts when I have to tell him no, you’d think I’m the meanest mom in the world and that I callously crushed his heart!
This isn’t going to get any easier as he gets older… is it?
A manic little elf
Aug 3rd
You guys! I was feeding Nathan his lunch today when he suddenly was on the verge of an Apocalyptic Meltdown. So I started making silly faces at him. It was only partially successful. He wouldn’t stop crying, so he was laughing uproariously and crying SIMULTANEOUSLY. Like some sort of CRAZED, MANIC ELF.
What a strange kid.
His diaper must’ve been in a wad or something, I don’t know. But it took me holding him while dancing to one of his favorite songs to get him in a good mood again. Now, my arms and legs feel disconcertingly like big BLOBS OF JELLO, but hey! I successfully thwarted a temper tantrum!
Nathan the Destroyer
Jul 19th
This is what happens when I forget to put the diapers out of Nathan’s reach. He flings them all over the room, every single time. And he knows he’s not supposed to… hence the “I’m sorry, Mama” look on his face.
Finally! He complies!
Jul 8th
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.
Daddy Withdrawals
Jul 7th
You know, I absolutely LOVE when my husband is home from work. This past 5-day weekend has spoiled me and Nathan. When Paul’s home from work, he plays with Nathan all the time. He builds Nathan towering block towers and obstacle courses. He does diaper changes and keeps Nathan covered in a blanket of hugs and kisses. So imagine how Nathan felt yesterday when, after what must have seemed like an eternity in Toddler Days, Paul returned to work and Nathan didn’t have his daddy to play with.
He was a Very Unhappy Boy.
He toddled around after me all day long yesterday, arms outstretched and occasionally bumping into cabinets while whining non-stop. And when I say non-stop, I really do mean that literally. It was ceaseless. He whined through diaper changes, while I was trying to feed him, and even while he was playing. He whined while I sang to him, while I danced with him, and while he sucked on his fingers. He whined up to the very second he fell asleep for his nap and started whining again the very moment his eyes fluttered open as his nap ended.
He missed his daddy terribly.
And when Paul came home from work? Nathan was like a daddy-thirsty leech and clung on to Paul for dear life. Anytime I so much as dared to take Nathan from his daddy, he threw a fit. I think it’s absolutely precious that Paul is such a great dad to his son. I wonder if Nathan will ever know just how lucky he is to have a dad like his. So many children don’t have it, which is so very unfair, because all children deserve to have a good daddy.
Poor little guy
Jun 18th
Paul and I have been using Pampers diapers for Nathan ever since he was an infant. We’ve tried other brands, but Pampers has always been the best (for Nathan). We started off with Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive, then changed to Pampers Baby Dry, and when Nathan became mobile, we started using Pampers Cruisers.
Not a bad diaper at all. It contains the poop, with the exception of an explosion here and there, and that’s all that matters.
So recently, we got a box of the new Pampers Cruisers Dry Max, which boasts ultra protection against wetness. Well, I’m not saying this with 100% certainty, but coincidentally enough, when we started using the diapers with the “dry max technology,” Nathan started experiencing painful symptoms.
Remember how just the other day, I talked about Nathan suddenly developing an aversion to getting his diaper changed? Complete with thrashing and wailing and flipping and flopping? Well, it turns out that it wasn’t an aversion to diaper changes themselves. I think it was because he was having a reaction to the diapers.
And I don’t mean like a diaper rash with the little bumps.
I mean that it was something akin to a chemical burn. After only a week or so of using the new diapers, Nathan’s poor little bottom started turning red, so I assumed he was just developing a diaper rash. Only the redness kept getting worse and worse, and applying diaper cream made Nathan shriek in pain. And just yesterday, his screaming when I changed his diaper escalated into panic mode, and I noticed that the skin on his bottom was on the verge of blistering. Some of it was even starting to peel. And then, I came across this article in the news.
So we quit using the new diapers and started using the Baby Dry again, and instead of using diaper cream, I’m using Baby Petroleum Jelly. He doesn’t mind so much when I use the petroleum jelly, but he screamed bloody murder when I tried using our normal diaper cream.
Again, let me reiterate that I’m not 100% sure that it was the new diapers that caused this reaction, but as a precaution, I thought it was worth mentioning just in case any other mamas notice their babies developing a rashlike burn after switching to a new diaper. IF there is a connection, then hopefully, other parents out there will catch it before the rash/burn develops into something more serious.
A touch of Bad Mood here and there
Jun 15th
Nathan must be teething the past few days. I’ve noticed he’s been quite moody lately, and it seems just about any little thing will spark a tantrum.
Like diaper changes.
I don’t know what the deal is, but Nathan has decided that all diaper changes must be banished. As in, no longer allowed to be performed. Ever. By anyone. To any baby. Because now if I tell him I need to change his diaper, he throws a fit. He’ll collapse on the ground in this quivering heap of Not Happiness. So I try to sneak the diaper changes in, but somehow, HE KNOWS. I pick him up and without me so much as saying a word, HE KNOWS WHAT I’M ABOUT TO DO. He starts thrashing and arching and twisting and screaming. I lay him on the changing table and he does the Alligator Death Roll. Not sure why… I’ve only been changing his diaper multiple times a day FOR HIS ENTIRE LIFE.
What’s the deal?
And he wants his Mommy A LOT. He’s walking most of the time now, so he walks behind me with his little arms outstretched, whining for me. So I pick him up, and he wants down. I put him down, he wants me to pick him up. He cannot make up his mind!
You should see what it’s like when Paul gets home from work, though. See, Nathan is with me all day long, so when Paul’s home, he’s like this big treat just for Nathan. Nathan can’t get enough of his daddy, and he loves that his daddy spends a nice chunk of time playing with him when he gets home from work. If Paul has to leave Nathan’s sight, however, I have to be there to distract him or Nathan gets really upset.
Oh, the hard life of a toddler. It must be difficult being so little!
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