Changes

Kent's been going through a lot of changes these past few weeks.

Our little independent playground player is suddenly afraid of slides. He used to love them! One day, he sat at the top of one he knows well, then stopped and screamed and cried for me to get him. It was so unlike him and he still doesn't go near them. Climbing and jumping from heights? No problem. Swinging at high as possible? No problem. Thankfully, he's still pretty active at the playground and gets the energy out. Now if only the weather would cooperate....

Then it was the rocking chair. From one day to the next, he didn't want to sit in it, read in it or rock in it. This was a doozy because he's rocked before sleeping (not rocked to sleep) every since we brought him home from the hospital. If ever he's too wound up, the rocking chair is magic. Since he has rejected it, we've had some bedtime issues. Mostly because we're reading books and doing our pre-sleep routine on a couch which is new and exciting and allows him to wiggle and climb over me and move around too much. The rocking motion was very powerful to him, but he's become scared of it. We slowly went back to the rocking chair, but not rocking. Then I tried rocking ever so slowly while reading (distraction!), and luckily his fear has subsided. Over the past weeks, he's come around and we can snuggle in that chair again. Whew!!

Bedtime and naptime issues continue for a different reason. No matter how long our routine is, how mellow, and how much in the dark it is... he'll go back to his fully awake self just minutes after you've left the room. He'll be up bouncing in his bed, playing with his blanket, quoting books and singing at the top of his lungs. THIS was very frustrating until this past week when I put two and two together. He fell asleep three times right around noon - either in a stroller or in the car. Usually his nap starts between 1 and 1:30, but this pattern made me think he was getting a second wind. We've pushed everything up and now we shoot for a 12 or 12:30 nap and it has worked! He'll still talk and sing for a while, but it's getting better. Hopefully we're going in the right direction.

All his life he has slept with his green blanket... somewhere in his bed. Last year, he started hugging it and sleeping on top of it. Last summer he started requesting it around his neck like a scarf. Last fall he wanted it over his eyes in a very particular way: one corner over his eyes and tucked under his head, over his ear too, but not over his nose, and another corner in one hand. Like I said, very particular. Now for some reason, he still sleeps with it, but not in that particular way. What a relief! He can arrange it how he likes, sometimes his usual way, sometimes just next to him.

Another big change is his mobility. He's on the go-go-go with his balance bike. It was a $5 purchase last summer but he's just now getting the hang of it. He's practiced in the house all winter and now we're taking it out on walks or to the dining hall. He's MUCH more focused going from A to B when he's on a bike. And he's much faster than on foot. It's really great. He's so proud of his bike that he yells to anyone and everyone "hey! Look at my bike! I'm riding my bike! I have a helmet!"

Yesterday it was so cold and dreary, but we went to watch some home games anyway... until he found a hill. There was no stopping him.

There's no stopping any of these changes. He's going to grow and change and want different things at each stage. It's so fun to watch him grow up.