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.