On Mal's Other Hand...

So, yes, I'm tired. My amazing, wonderful son makes me tired. He also makes me laugh. He's such a sweetie when he's not jumping straight from joy into anger and whatnot. He really does seem to have two speeds: giggling and gnashing teeth.

This morning, we had gone out on the patio to enjoy the sunrise. It was cooler out there than in the house, and the sky was amazing. After we'd been out a few, Mal walked back into the apartment, went to the laundry room, grabbed the Swiffer sweeper (it didn't have a cloth on it), and took it outside to "sweep" the corn and birdseed.

Later, I was winding up the vacuum cleaner cord and noticed that the vacuum was dusty. I got a Lysol wipe to wipe it down, and Mal took it from me to continue the job.

Also, I had gotten out an Allen wrench to tighten the screws on my bar stool, and after I'd put the wrench back into the tool bag, Mal reached in there and got the right thing (there are also screwdrivers and a small hammer) and was poking at the foot rest on the stool.

So, see? He's very helpful.

To keep him from fussing so much, I've tried to teach him to ask for "Help, please, mama," or "Nursies, please, mama." Lately, he's forgotten this skill when it comes to things like wanting to move his gigantic diaper bag, or my backpack/purse, or James' backpack. He just grabs, pulls, and starts scream crying when he can't do it. However, he does try very hard with certain things. And he says it, for some reason, "Bup bup" or "bum bump." I guess that's what "help" feels like in his mouth.

Once, I'd saved some of his favorite treats (those dehydrated veggie puffs? I am addicted to them myself! They're just fruit and veggies and juice and they melt in your mouth, but they also make them with yogurt or coconut water, and they're just amazing. Yes, I eat baby food. A whole bag of those suckers is only 100 calories, but it's also close to $3, so I haven't ever actually sat down and just gone to town) for church, only to realize that there were maybe a half dozen left, and then some fragments.

I pulled out two and gave them to him. He ate them, and then looked at me again, so I handed him two more. Then I poured out the rest into my hand, so he could see the next two and the crumby mixture that was left. He ate the two and wasn't interested in the crumbs. He looked at me and said politely, "Bup bup." I whispered, "Sweetie, this is all that there are. They're all gone." I opened the bag to show him the empty cavern. He looked at the bag and then at me expectantly and said, "Bup bup." I said, "I'm sorry. All done." And then he started to cry, so I took him out long enough for me to open a Clif Z Bar, which he adores, and he gladly (and messily) ate. He tried to hard to ask the right way, and that got him nowhere, right?

Then another time, we were in his room and he was climbing all over me, like he does about every hour, wanting to nurse. Now, if we go out, he can go three hours or so without nursing, if he's distracted. I know, physically, he could go longer. But he's still in the "nurse first, snack on food after" stage, and he very much likes to nurse as his own personal sedative, so I'm following his lead. Except sometimes, at home, I try to put him off by changing the center of attention to something exciting, or offering him food in case he's actually hungry. He was getting upset with my refusal to let him latch on, and he started crying. But this wasn't his fussy norm. This was seriously sad and disappointed, and as he started, he sobbed, "Bup buhhhhhp." So, of course, it was too adorable to say "no" and he got what he wanted.

Another thing is that he gets sad *every* morning when James leaves. If I let him, he'd stand at the door and wail. Instead, we run into his room and he can see his dad walk down the stairs and turn up the hill to get to the car. James waves at us from the ground floor, and it's somehow more cheerful to see him disappear like that than to have a door slammed in between us.

Mal will sometimes walk around the house looking for "Dah-dah" until I remind him that Daddy's at work but will be home soon (like in 6 short hours!), and whenever Mal hears the keys in the door, he stops whatever we're doing and runnnnns to the entryway. Sometimes he greets his dad by running to him, but sometimes he's so overwhelmed by happiness that it makes him shy and he runs back to me, first, then to his dad. He wants James to pick him up right away, and he says "Dah-dah!" over and over while studying James' face.

I love this little stinker! Truly, I do!

Final story: As I've mentioned, Mal has a tough time transitioning into sleep, thus my having to nurse him to sleep all of the time, including when he wakes up during naps (he usually "sleeps" for two hours, with two wake-ups during that time, so I nurse him thrice during naps). When I nurse him, he usually kicks his legs. If we're in bed, he'll kick at the blinds, so I have to prop a pillow up against the blinds to keep the noise of that from keeping him awake. And, also, like any baby, he will sometimes rub my arm or my other... side (I make him stop; I mean, please, at least one of them gets a rest while the other is in use, right?), and sometimes, he pinches my arm! Well, the other day, he was super keyed up, I guess, because he was kicking both legs, and patting me with both hands. With one hand, he was patting the very feeding device he was using, and with the other, he was patting my arm. It was too cute, and he did finally wind down and fall asleep.

So, I suppose the moral of the story is that it's a good tired.