Its a Little Early for the Terrible Twos . . .

Its funny, when William was first born, I couldn't stand the sound of him crying. It hurt my heart! As soon as it started I would rush over and scoop him up and comfort him. As time goes on however, I find that, while a pain or hunger cry is still intolerable, the bratty cries (when he doesn't get his way or doesn't want to sleep when he is supposed to) don't bother me one bit!

William has started this new thing where he will only eat from my right boob. He will reluctantly take a few sips from the left boob and I make him do this every feed so that the left boob doesn't go dry. Its a mystery why this is. I used to think that it was a supply issue, as I can get about double the amount of milk from my right compared to my left. But as time goes by, I don't think that is the case as he will often reject the left boob, even when it is totally full of milk and engorged. My midwife postulated that because he was laying on his left side for nearly the entire pregnancy, he likes to eat on the left side and thus prefers the right boob. Whatever the case is, this behavior makes me worry that one boob is going to dry up completely and I will walk around with lopsided breasts like a freakin' Picasso. 

So far, offering him the left boob at every meal has worked out and it hasn't dried up yet. Sometimes however he refuses to take the left boob and a temper tantrum will ensue. I know its a temper tantrum because as soon as I switch him over to the right boob, he will happily suck away. Usually while he is doing one of these tantrums I will simply stare at him with no expression on my face. I don't want him to see me reacting to it in any way and mostly I am just waiting for him to finish. I think he wants me to try and comfort him but I don't want to encourage his behavior (besides the comforting just keeps the tantrum going on longer)! While this has happened a few times, when it happened again the other day, things went a little differently. 

Normally he will cry, get really worked up, calm down and eventually eat from the side I want him to. This time however, he not only wanted to have a temper tantrum, he wanted me to watch him have it. He was putting on the full show: crying with tears, coughing, snorting, the whole shebang. As soon as I looked away, the crying immediately stopped and he did this sort of cute coo and I looked back at him. As soon as he saw that I was looking at him, he started right back up with the crying. This happened several times with him 'tricking' me into looking at him so that he could continue with his tantrum. Eventually he tired himself out and went back to eating the left boob. *Sigh* This kid is going to be a handful as a toddler! I have a feeling that by the time he is two years old, I will be a tantrum master. Just call me Yoda: "Cry you must, but get your way you will not!"