The good news: In case we haven't mentioned it before, Leo's block-stacking abilities are far ahead of what he ought to be able to accomplish at his age. When he's so inclined, he can build block towers that are consistently 3-4 blocks tall before they fall over (usually because he decides to knock them down), and I've seen him get as far as 7 blocks once. Most kids his age can build a 2- or 3-block tower.
The bad news, part 1: He was up at 3:15 this morning. I think he might have dozed a little bit over the next 4 hours, but not much. We got a little sleep by giving him a glass of water and some books in the crib and leaving the nursery light on. He's really not showing much sign of slowing down, either. Needless to say, we're planning to nap when he does.
The bad news, part 2: Last night triggered his first real temper tantrum. It had to do with going to bed and book (or was it milk... maybe one the first go-around and the other the second) removal. We hadn't quite identified it as a tantrum during part I, got him up and read to him for a little bit. We figured it was a tantrum during part II, and let him mostly cry it out.
If any of our parents are reading this, we're interested in comments on how tantrum-prone we were, and for how long. Trying to brace ourselves for the long haul and such......
Jeff's news: Currently running through Kaplan Teacher Development toward a planned summer job. That's got me out late Monday, and there's an enrollment open house at school on Wednesday that will have me out late, too. I've got meetings scheduled every night after school except Friday, so it's going to be a busy week.
1 comment:
Kirstin was very temper-tantrum-prone for periods of time, which to me as a parent seemed to last forever. In reality, they ranged from a few seconds to 15-20 minutes or so. These were the times that required the utmost patience and steeling of nerves. It's hard to be patient and gentle, and convey the fact that you love them so, but still be firm enough to let them know they are not the boss. A lot of it is instinct, I think, and you two seem to be doing very well in that area already, so just carry on.
P.S. A good set of earplugs doesn't hurt, either. Oh, and you might want to clue the neighbors in about the stage both you and Leo are now going through.
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