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The times they are a changin'

I can't get over how funny the baby is being  -- and how different he is acting this week. It's been like a little glimpse or foreshadowing into toddlerhood.

Our family spent the first half of January sick with some feverish GI bug. We spent the second half teething and nursing non-stop. We are in a much happier place right now. They say babies start to grasp the concept of object permanence around 5 months.* (Like, the understanding that things can exist in places even out of sight. What we take for granted!) It's just recently, though, that he's demonstrating it in any appreciable way.

Earlier he would laugh with a peek a boo game, but maybe it was just for the funny faces we make. He starts the game himself now. Last night he closed himself in his nursery closet, paused, and then pushed the doors out again with a shriek of joy. Over and over and over again. It was hilarious.

Since . . . I guess birth, this kid has never expressed any desire to be anywhere except on/with me, or whomever happens to be the closest mom-substitute in the room. This past week or so, he'll actually make motions to be set down to play with something, or he'll just crawl away to check something out in another room.

Don't get me wrong, he still wants to be held, but now it's like only 75% of the time instead of 95% of the time. The other day I left him in the [mostly baby-proofed] living room for about two minutes while I put some laundry away in our bedroom. At some point I heard his happy playing-with-my-toys babble change into a whimper.

"Momma's in her room, Bubba, 'Coming right back." I shouted. Normally, this realization of separation would trigger a melt down. Instead, I heard just another little whimper and the soft pitter patter of his hands and feet on the tile floor. A moment later his smile peered at me from around the corner of the hallway and he headed into my room.

Instead of freaking out, he realized he could close the distance himself.

Trust me, it's a big deal for us ; )

And so, so, so curious. He used to be terrified of the vacuum cleaner -- it's big and loud and noisy. But when's it's off and unplugged, he can't help but inspect it. For a time, he wouldn't go near the thing. I swear he got upset once cause I left it (off) in the same room as him. Another time, in lieu of a baby-gate, I simply parked it in front of an area I wanted him to stay away from. But on his own initiative he's come closer and closer everyday, tapping it, rubbing it, tugging its cord. Usually I strap him onto me with the Ergo while I vacuum. This morning I ran it in the living room and, even sitting on the same rug with it powered on, he didn't act scared.

. . . And he's telling me my internet time is up. See ya.

*The object permanence thing. Some theorize that children don't fully understand this concept until 18-24 months. That's debatable for sure. Nonetheless, this is one of my big problems with cry-it-out sleep training, for infants at least.  Without understanding where mom or dad is, that kind of isolation is just cruel.

Posted by Elizabeth at 13:25 Who's blogging Critical Care Nursing: How a philosophy major pays rent.
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