Thoughts and baby lately

I’ve figured out why it’s advantageous to stay in school: to become educated enough about the financial world to make yourself serious money. To do that, you also need to be smart enough to know how to make a deal, manage life, research the answers, and make/keep friends. If you don’t do some or all of those things, stay in school so you learn a trade.

Anyway, we are coming out of a funk. It’s been rough since he got sick and then really until yesterday. He is still having moments, but I’m OK with moments. Moments are very toddlerlike and I can maintain my composure and discipline in a proper and friendly way.

We both got new rain boots in anticipation of wandering squishy, muddy fields. He refused to wear them. I was not in my best of grace, but I was trying to teach the lesson that he puts on the shoes or he doesn’t get to go outside. My mistake was in thinking he was going to be much better or worse for going outside, so it was a bad fight to pick. However, his moods have worn me to the point where I am just now being able to recover and act like a proper adult (well, where discipline, marriage, and paying the bills are involved! That’s it :D). So over and over again for a good half hour at two different parks, we played the “Hi! Put on your rain boots and let’s go outside!” *bloody murder scream* *shut door, wait 20 seconds, try again* game. Based on the fact that he started the screaming when the boots were imminent, I am certain that either he’s scared of them or he finds them uncomfortable. (If he pulls this shit about wearing a bicycle helmet in about a month, that is going to really suck because we absolutely can’t compromise on that one.)

I suppose I viewed the boots as protective equipment, helmet-style, and I think I have a reasonable right to expect him to wear clothing I put on him at this point. I am mistaken, of course – he’s letting me know that everything he’s wearing is because he agrees to wear it and he generally likes our taste. He’s already protested the helmet but not to the point of refusal to comply.

Digressing onto cycling, we have a little Radio Flyer trike that we received from a neighbor at North Park when her kid grew out of it. Tristan loves riding on it these days; back then (before winter, really) and last week he’s sat willingly (with a ghetto belt for then and now) and even excitedly. The trike has been popular – all of the kids clamored for a turn. While it was thankfully unoccupied, it sort of.. disintegrated. The wheel and handlebar attachment disengaged from the body and it collapsed. I really like the damn trike and I’ve since fixed it according to the assembly instructions, but I feel a bit superstitious because that was kind of fucking scary. Sigh.

Tristan’s main interest is climbing stairs lately. This is a bit of a pain in the butt because he wants to do it at home and is starting to throw tantrums when removed prematurely from the activity. Oh, and it’s a pain in the butt because a parent is required for fall control still. See, he wants to experiment with how adults climb stairs – he knows how to crawl up them and scoot down them, but instead of getting good at the scooting, he prefers to practice stepping. And I still don’t trust that he will not go down stairs headfirst given the opportunity, since he’s that excited about getting to climb them. He is really cute how he holds out his hand for help when he’s about to take a difficult step (like a curb) or stair, though. I wish I could take the chance to just trust him in that he’d be prudent, but that’s a bit of a risky one to take if you think your kid might not use caution.

I’ve kept our activities toddler-friendly, which is pretty easy. Tristan is happy when he is:
– walking where he wants to go
– playing a combination of peekaboo and tag
– at any activity involving water or climbing
– worn in a carrier, preferably outdoors
– playing with his own crap at home independently whenever it’s time for nap or when dad is home and not busy

Therefore, it’s pretty easy to make an easy and leisurely, pleasant (or purposefully errand-tastic) day out of hanging out with Tristan. It just takes effort, because most of his favorite activities require a parent running to keep up with him, if he is not strapped to a parent. Oh, and he doesn’t like to do other adult things such as things that involve sitting (reasonably, for a toddler – I’ve seen it in toddlers his age, I swear it!) quietly if he’s not eating, moving passively, or sleeping at that moment. Diaper Days movies are great – they’d be actually doable if there were rocking chairs or when we walk around with him constantly.

Still haven’t gotten the rocking chair; still considering getting one.

He enjoyed the hell out of the Children’s Museum today. I let him lead me from activity to activity and it was fun seeing what he chose to return to. It was far more interesting that way, but that’s probably because he didn’t climb the stairs forever. Ah, I suppose him asserting the will to have fun and being interested in stuff he remembers is quite neat, as well. 🙂

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *