Oh, Toddler

Teething has returned.  After being a two-toothed wonder for months, 'Rad's top two middle teeth - with a big gap between them - are starting to take the stage.  From the way he gnaws on his hand and fingers, I'm assuming he'll have a full grill by the new year.

After working to reach a point where he could play by himself in his room for 20-30 minutes, the havoc of my inconsistent work schedule has reared its ugly head.  Now, when Connor and I are at home he feels the need to cling to my legs, stand in front of me and insist on being picked up, and whine every time I walk out of the room for the splittest of seconds.  Is it my work schedule?  Is it the teething?  Is it toddlerhood?  I'm going to try to let go of this need to know what is causing his renewed neediness, because Dog knows that it could be everything and nothing and I'm much closer to not knowing than I am to figuring it out.  It will be hard, though.  I like knowing root causes of things so I can either stress out about it or act on it.  The manic nature of toddlerhood makes me feel like I'm going crazy some days.

No matter, 'Rado is still rocking out despite some setbacks.  Tonight, as we were reading him his Baby Touch and Feel Farm book before bedtime, he insisted on flipping back to the pages with the shiny tractor and sparkling wheat.  At first, he would just look at the pages.  Then, he would flip back to those pages and just start laughing.  Something about that shiny tractor and sparkling wheat was just so funny.  I love that I don't know why those pages were funny and that something as mundane as a tractor and wheat had the power to draw those chiming baby laughs from him.  The other day, I put him on my stomach while I lay on my back and I just started laughing.  Then he started laughing.  Then I started laughing and we sat laughing at each other for minutes on end, not knowing why we were laughing or why we would need to stop.  Sometimes there's so much joy in the not knowing because the knowing can often carry a lot of pressure and responsibility.

Other things Connor is into nowadays:

• Peek-a-boo (all you have to say is, "Where is Connor?" and he's game)

Mom's closet is a good place to hide

• Flipping light switches on and off
• (Demolishing) The hide-and-seek flaps in books
• Trying to escape from me, double-fisted (a pacifier in each hand, that is)
• Pulling all of the books off of his bookshelf and not putting a one back

His, "Oh, you've caught me in my study" look