Nathan is wonderful. Except when he's slightly less wonderful.
I have an app on my phone called The Wonder Weeks. I've only had it for a couple months, and I don't know how much I buy into it but the premise is that babies go through development phases in which they make connections and leaps in understanding. That part, I definitely buy.
The app claims that these "leaps" come in two parts. The first part includes babies being more clingy, cranky, and crying more, whereas the second phase manifests itself while they are trying out their new skills and understanding and they are more independent. I take this all with a grain of salt, but just before this most recent (what I like to call) "dark time," I had, for a few weeks, just been glowing about how happy he was, how pleasant to be around all the time, etc.
I look at the app every once and awhile, and about a month ago I looked at it and the app showed that we were at the beginning of a "dark time." Hogwash, I said. Have you seen him? He's delightful! He's so happy! You call this clingy? Two days later, the clouds gathered.
Now, let's be clear, he's still delightful, wonderful, and generally fun to be around, but for the last few weeks his fuse has definitely been shorter. He hates getting undressed and dressed and cries like you are pulling out his nails. (Brian and I basically do rock, paper, scissors for that fun task.) Not a big fan of diaper changes either. By the end of the day when he's exhausted we all (Nathan included) just wish he were in bed and sleeping.
Call me an optimist, but I've been checking this app more and more the last few weeks, watching the little baby get closer and closer to the light. It looks like one more week. It may all be hogwash, but at least it gives me something to look forward to and something to blame other than, "our baby is being a bit of a pain lately." Instead it's, "he's going through a leap, poor fella." It's all about perspective, I guess. I'm banking on a month of sunshine.
Though, is it just me or does that next "dark time" look longer than this one?
In other news, the weather has been just gorgeous the last couple of weeks here. We are getting outside so much more and it couldn't be more refreshing. We were all a little desperate for some Vitamin D. Cathy's been taking Nathan and Jacob on walks almost every day, and they are pretty adorable in the double stroller.
Also, I stole some flowers from Ted and Angela's yard! (Thanks for the flowers guys!) Yup, that's right, they are now the proud owners of a great house about a mile and a half away from us. I can't wait to take Nathan on walks to see Aunt Angela and Uncle Ted once they move here. They may start to wish they had bought something twice the distance! Look at those beautiful flowers! It's inspired me to put my mind to our own landscaping. Nathan even helped me plant our tiny vegetable garden. He LOVES playing in the dirt and has only tried to eat it a few times. (Repeat mantra: dirt is good for babies, dirt is good for babies)
