Separation and Independence

A hint of things to come

I think we are sailing straight into the waters of separation anxiety.  It hasn't been terrible, but there are some things going on now that weren't happening before.  When Connor is playing and I'm sitting by him, he'll stop what he's doing and reach for me, sometimes with both hands (a dangerous action when standing on your own is new territory).  When I put him down on his play mat or in his bouncer, there's a chance that he might start to whine or look for me instead of being immediately taken by the toys rattling and sparkling in front of him.  But worst of all, nap time has gotten a little difficult, particularly his afternoon nap.

Amy is great at getting him to nap, but for some reason afternoon naps at home on the weekends are a struggle for us.  He'll send us all the usual tired signs, but when we put him down for a nap he either 1) cries unconsolably for a while until finally succumbing to nap time or 2) sleeps for just 30 minutes, after which we can't get him to go back to sleep so he remains tired and a little testy until bedtime.  Not cool 'Rad, not cool.  We do nothing different between his morning and afternoon naps - the only variable I can see is me.  Does my lack of afternoon energy show so much that 'Rad is not tired out as much when I put him down after lunch as he is mid-morning?  Does our lax weekend schedule catch up with him in the afternoon?  If it's not either of those things, I'm not sure what it is.  For the past two weekends we've dealt with this and it isn't good for anyone.

In spite of the meager shut-eye Connor got this afternoon, he pulled it together to hit an exciting milestone: his first self-fed bit of food (sponsored by Cheerios)!  Earlier this week we cut up bits of banana to help him to this end, but instead of putting his hands out try and grab those fruity bits, he put his mouth down on the plate and tried to eat them with his mouth.  Like a horse eating hay or a cow going for the grass.  He didn't even attempt to move his arms toward that food.  I'm glad he knows what the end goal is, but I'm not impressed with your shortcuts, 'Rad-a-tude.

Tonight he understood what we were going for when we sprinkled Cheerios on his tray, and he made it happen.  At 6:22 pm, Conrado Ramone picked a Cheerio up off of his high chair tray and put it in his mouth like a small, fleshy backhoe.  I have the photo to prove it:

The moment: Cheerio-in-the-mouth success!

He got close a number of other times, but those times the cheerio managed to escape his clumsy grasp as he tried to cram his whole fist in his mouth.  It was such a thrill watching him focus so intensely on each bit of cereal, going through the motions to get them in his mouth.  The world just got a bit bigger for Connor, feeding time got a little more interesting for us, and the kitchen floor just got tastier for Blue Boy.