Life with Nathan: Weeks 43 and 44 - Mind of His Own (and 10 Months)

Ever since we came back from PA, Nathan's sleep routine has been, well, not so routine. He used to fall asleep on his own at bedtime, but the past two weeks he would do the body flop as I'm lowering him into the crib. As soon as I put him down, he starts crying and gets back up / stands holding onto the railing until I come back. Sometimes it would take me 5 or 6 tries to get him to stay down long enough to fall asleep from exhaustion. Not only that, he would wake up every couple of hours and it's the same thing all over again! It's so strange because he's never done the kicking / squirming / crying thing when we used to put him down, but now he would do that if he doesn't want to be in the crib, car seat, or even on the floor. Is this a temper tantrum, or just his way of telling us he doesn't want to be put down because he doesn't have any other way to express it? I hope it's a phase and it gets better soon. I just keep praying over him that he has a good temperament.

This past week was rough. I was helping out with VBS all week and Jackson was away on a business trip for 4 days. It's not that I couldn't do everything, but it's tough to get both of us ready in the morning with no help and out the door by 8:15. I guess that's what working moms do though! It makes me appreciate having Jackson home more! I don't know if Nathan realized that daddy wasn't home, but he must have realized it after the fact, because he was noticeably more clingy to his dad. When I put him in the car seat, he would throw a fit and want to turn around to see Jackson in the front seat. So now Jackson stays next to him while we strap him in before getting in the car.

Nathan is really opinionated now, he knows what he wants and isn't easily fooled by my "tricks". If he doesn't want to eat something, he will keep refusing it. And if I give him something he likes, then try to sneak in a bite of what he doesn't want, he knows right away and will refuse it. He demands entertainment while he eats. Sometimes I sing or have to give him something to play with while I feed him. No entertainment? Mouth no open. But he loves to throw whatever he's playing with on the floor from his high chair - he'll purposely put his hand over the side, drop it and then stare at it until I pick it back up. Then he'll take it and drop it again, and again, and again. He is definitely testing my patience. I think I read somewhere about how it's his way of discovering cause and effect. After his meal, Jackson walks in and is like why is the floor full of puffs, water bottle, tissues, etc?

He's also in his curious stage where he wants to look at and touch pretty much everything. At every chance possible, he'll use furniture (or us) to prop himself up to a standing position. My favorite thing that he started doing is when I go pick him up from his grandparents', he smiles and gets excited and crawls really fast to me when he sees me. It's so cute!