Captain Cranky Pants

This is all about the kid. If you remember over a month ago I talked about Zachariah's general clinginess towards me. This comes and goes for him. Sometimes he's fine with both of us. Other times he only wants Mommy. Then there are moments when we're both home, he goes to Daddy and gives me this "we don't need you" look. I'm sure all kids go through some sort of this.

The last week or so, Zachariah has started crying as soon as Matt picks him up from me at the tutoring center. We've helped this a little bit by me putting him in the car seat then saying goodbye. Then he does fine for Matt once they get home. And with the nicer weather, Matt has been able to go for walks with Zachariah in the stroller. That keeps him occupied taking in all the sights.

Last night we had a complete meltdown. They had gone for a walk, and then Matt went to grill dinner. Zachariah was happy sitting there in his stroller watching. That's when I pulled into the drive. He was happy to see me, but he didn't go overboard or anything. I walked him around the yard for a while, so Matt could finish up supper. He walked over to look at all the trees. Then the neighbor spotted us. We stood and chatted for a while, since we haven't done that in a long time. She kept saying how cute Zachariah is. And every time she said that he turned and gave her this cheesy grin. It was so funny! Anyway, then we went inside to eat dinner. Zachariah was being picky and wouldn't eat much. I got him some yogurt (a fail-safe for us) and he was happily eating that. In the meantime Matt finished his dinner. He scooted Zachariah's chair closer to him and said he would feed him so I could eat. Nice! I do like to eat warm food now and then. When he moved Zachariah, he started crying. Matt quickly tried feeding him, but that was not working. Zachariah would look at me like I'd completely abandoned him and continue crying. (I was sitting right beside him.) We couldn't get him to eat or drink or do anything but cry. Finally Matt said OK we'll get you ready for bed. It was his bedtime anyway, so that could have been part of the problem. I heard him cry almost the whole time that Matt changed him. My stomach was so upset at hearing him cry at that point that I didn't even finish my dinner. I could tell that Matt's heart was breaking too. He just couldn't console him. I finished the bedtime routine and he calmed down and went right to sleep. Ahh! Perfect peace! I just felt so bad that Matt couldn't calm him down. I know it broke Matt's heart that Zac kept coming back to me. Hopefully this was a one-time relapse. He was finally getting better (except getting in the car in the afternoon with Daddy.)

On other Zachariah news, I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He has been changing like crazy before my eyes lately. He is walking like a pro now. He doesn't crawl at all anymore. He's getting better about playing by himself for longer. (This has been great, because I can finally get more done around here.) He still comes back to me, but not nearly as often as before. Zachariah is signing more words as I teach him. He jabbers to himself a lot, but he doesn't speak too many words. Mostly he says Mama, Dada, Bye bye, and sometimes Nigh nigh (night night). And the other thing that amazes me is how much he's grown. He is SOOO tall. I don't know if I've mentioned before, but he is in the 90th percentile for height. He's always been that or above. I don't realize it too much until I see him near other kids his age. Weight-wise he's in the 40th %. He has a cute little pudgy belly though, but no butt. That means his pants still slide off of him.

Oh that just reminded me of something he did yesterday. When I laid him down for a nap, he pulled his pants off. That's the first time he's ever done that. Is this the start of something? Right now he's running around in just a onesie - which he never does. He wouldn't let me put on pants, and I'm lucky I got those socks to stay on. This morning I walked into his room with a video camera on when I woke him up. He hammed it up for the camera like usual. He was pointing to things on the floor and outside. Then he fell down (in the crib) when he was moving around. He smiled at me like it was funny. Then when I laughed, he thought he'd do it again (on purpose this time) and again and again. I couldn't believe it. It was a good thing to get on video, I'm sure.

It's funny that being a mother has changed me in ways that I didn't know it would. I think it's all good though. Every time he makes me smile, I think it adds years to my life. Having a baby makes it worth everything.