Up, Down - Down, Up

My child has been introduced to the world of crawling. He is amazed at himself - he can go anywhere. Just about anyway...

A few weeks ago, William started the army crawl. He is a very, very fast mover.

With two dogs and two cats our floors are not very clean, so I have been trying to keep him in an area the size of a king size sheet (yeah right...). Yesterday, our cleaning lady came over. She cleaned what I can't stand cleaning the most - the floors (and the tub). She walked out the door and I put him down to explore his new world. Oh the things he found! He has such a great time!!

Then this thing started happened... He would crawl over to me and put his hand in the air for me to pick him up. So I picked him up. Two seconds later he twisted his body, because he wanted to get back on the ground. After a few moments of crawling then his hand was back in the air and fussing... Oh my!

This morning he was tired and wanted to sleep... He pulled his Binky out of his mouth and tossed in on the ground. I left it. He turned his body around to find his Binky and then the fussing started.

It is funny to say, but I love it. I love that he is figure out the cause and effect of different things. Yes it can be frustrating, but he has figured it out pretty quick - he drops his Binky then he doesn't have the Binky anymore.

I am also finding what he wants is more complicated, but I need to remind myself that usually my first instinct is right on.

A few days ago, I was "that mother" with a fussy baby in a restaurant. The two of us were the first to show up, so I got the table ready. Fed him a bottle. I turned for a few moments and then looked back at him. He had a "I just got scared" look. I have no idea was it was, but it started a chain of events that ended with me leaving early. He started fussing - I changed his diaper, gave him food, soothed his teeth with a cool napkin, etc. Nothing work, so I decided to get going. I could see in the corner of my eye other people looking at me. The strange this was I didn't care people in a restaurant who I will never see again, especially since he doesn't act like this at all, so there was something that was bother him. Right when I got him in the car seat he was fine. He was the happiest baby for the rest of the evening (8 o'clock - when his bedtime is 6 or 7...) and didn't even cry one tear from the moment he got in the car seat.

Something scared him that evening and he couldn't tell me what it was. My gut told me that he was uncomfortable - not due to teeth, hungry belly, belly ache, tired or dirty diaper - it was more complicated than that. And I knew it. I think that there was so much going on, suggestions (which are more than welcome), other patrons, my concern for others having a good time, etc., which made me feel like a less than patient mom who didn't know what was wrong with her small child.

I will be going with my gut from now on and remind myself to breath so I can hear what it is saying.