The day before yesterday, Tristan put a plastic set of eggs and cereal in the fridge while we were getting his milk out. We left them in there until last night.

Today has been much more pleasant. I think we’ve actually gone tantrum-free thusfar! I also feel like my warm fairy-godmother self, so we had fun at playgroup, went shopping at The Container Store, and then went on to take a 45-minute-long shower. He went down for nap peacefully and is asleep right now. I have also, incidentally, been quick and ready with the Tylenol. He’s got a canine coming in for sure, and teething always crankifies him, but Tylenol is the magic elixir for that.

Tristan re-learned how to high five, kind of. We’re working on the particulars, but he recognizes the command and goes for the handslap. His Mema and/or Aunt Angie taught him how when he was a year old but then he decided he wasn’t doing it anymore at that point. I also taught him to knock down and stand up bottles in the shower. I have hope that he enjoys following directions to prove his awesome skills to us or something pridelike of that nature.

* I was told that Tristan has begun to climb on dining room chairs and lie across them. I am looking out for this so I can get pictures.

* Tristan’s sick again. So are James and I this time. We all seem to be on the tail end of it. Tristan’s still cranky as shit. When he feels bad, he throws doozies over very insignificant things. Seriously, I think this evening he threw a 10 minute tantrum because (I think) I did not screw the cap onto his sippy cup and hand him the milk fast enough. I am proud that I managed to cart him off to his room before handing him said milk to let him get the screaming out of his system (and not teach him to scream to get things!). We’ve had a few more instances of him breaking down, in public and at home. I am sick of this aspect of toddlerhood.

* I am working the bugs out of myself; I am ill-equipped emotionally to handle toddler tantrums. They make me panic and need to escape.

* For the first time, he is showing interest when I point to stuff and say what it is. He actually seems to be studying it when I do that, rather than the typical disinterested look he usually sports when we try to get him to pay attention. He’s also been saying “Hi!” (or ahhhhhhhhhhhh! in Tristanese) upon hearing people approach, because he’s started doing that when he thinks we’re going to come get him from his crib.

* Tristan and daddy have had lots of fun playing with both Duplo and Clipo blocks together. Daddy puts them together and Tristan rips them apart and then puts them in the center of his gear toy to see if they spin.

* I don’t feel like we’re making much progress on the “Come with mommy/daddy” command. I feel like he understands it but is compelled to explore instead (or is being sweetly defiant? or is a typical toddler?). He will perform well when he wants something out of the transaction, like a cup of milk.

* He does not point with his fingers, but he does indicate with his feet by tapping on an object. He does this to the little transmitter boxes outside (they’re round plastic things that look like Smurf manholes). Any imperfection/change in a floor has always fascinated him, so this does not surprise me.

* I personally am struggling with the “Attachment Parent” part of me and, well, the opposite aspect. I suspect that seasoned parents would giggle at this. I will giggle at it when Tristan’s older, too.

* We are well on our way to making it to 18 months without having pooped in the bath or shower, by the way! I’m sure that calling it out will jinx it, but fuck it. That’s a milestone! Now, if he will start to request diaper changes or at least be more than reluctantly cooperative, I will be stoked.

* I am in desperate need of toddler stories and advice. I need to read about daily life with a toddler. And more than just the sweet stuff. I need to read that people went through bullshit, and that it’s expected and normal bullshit, and everyone came out OK.

Added 15 new pictures to 17 – 18 Months.

wandering around the livingkitchen with a book

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. 🙂

I believe the IE8 issue is mostly solved.

Discovered that IE8 mangles the menu! Working on it.

Saying “Hiiii!” over and over in my crib; should NOT be awake for another hour yet

went from crib to musical toys in 3.4 seconds!

Things are getting slowly better in some areas, but it’s annoying when Tristan’s very cranky. I’m grateful that holding him helps soothe him, and I really am going to pull for us getting a cheap rocking chair.

At the playgroup today, he had to be held for a good 45 minutes. I took us out to Babies R Us for another temporary door lock and other assorted crap, let him run around the store for a good 20 minutes (he was not cranky at that point, either!) got him home, and let him play since he seemed very content and feeling fine at that point. I changed his diaper in anticipation of his nap, and noted sorrowfully that he had not yet pooped. This is sorrowful because it means such an event was destined to happen between that diaper change and the placing of the toddler in the crib. Such an event did happen, so I had to fight through an extra diaper change before the prenap screamfest.

Something’s been happening to Tristan over the weekends lately. I suspect that it’s correlation rather than something dependent on it being the weekend, since he’s had his major duels with colds over the weekends. Anyway, he goes from being fairly cooperative about the daily duties of life such as having his diaper changed and being put down for naps to giving me screams, struggles, and generally poor behavior. This week seems to have gone very fast, because his behavior today was reminiscent of a typical cranky Tuesday.

Diaper changes will go one of two ways:
1) Tristan is passively cooperative but kind of annoyed to be brought up for diaper change. I stand him on the table and take off his pants, asking him to remove his feet. He removes them and is really proud to remove them. I have one of his giggling or meowing stuffed animals make noise and he starts playing with it. I try to entertain with one hand and change with the other, but he is cooperative and by the time it’s done, giggly. It’s a lot of damn work, but giggly, cooperative babies are nice.
-or-
2) Tristan is passively resistant and screaming his head off when he realizes he’s being brought up for diaper change. He won’t stand on the table, so I lie him down to remove his pants. Sometimes I try “toddler-ese” from the Happiest Toddler book, sometimes I just perform the change quickly and whisk him off to what seems to be developing into the time-out pillows. He only gets time-outs when he throws tantrums, and it’s really more of “lie here and finish that screaming, and then let’s continue with life.” Anyway, diapers. In this scenario, he usually twists, gets up, or puts a hand, foot, or clothing into poop. He also screams like he’s in severe pain, resulting in both of us being in severe pain.

Through a lot of snuggling and him generally getting over whatever’s making him feel like shit, we can transform the type 2 diaper changes into type 1s.

Sleep for him is usually just fine – he may protest but he’s not usually inconsolable. He gave me a bit of type 2 diaper change caliber screaming on his way to nap. Ow..

I’m looking forward to a little bit of a happier and more cooperative kid. Of course, I’m looking forward to him feeling better. I think all of the above are sort of necessary. Besides, a snuggle cures most ills even now.