Will has been in the middle of a growth spurt lately and had been eating a LOT more than usual. Especially in the morning and at lunch time. Lately hes been eating two waffles, then saying that hes still hungry. He will then eat an entire banana, an applesauce pouch, a glass of milk and a peanut butter cracker and some more fruit. Even so, it was a bit of a surprise when we went out to breakfast last Saturday, and he ate the following: two 6" diameter pancakes, a scrambled egg, a half a piece of toast, then they brought out a giant 12" diameter pancake, and he ate all of that too! That thing was bigger than he was. I figured he'd eat maybe a quarter of it. I was astounded. And afterwards he didn't even seem particularly full. He ran around like normal. I am somewhat nervous for when hes a teenager, eating us out of house and home!
We went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and I brought the kids food from home, since they (mostly Will) have a very poor track record with eating anything from a restaurant. Anyway after we were getting in the car to go home afterwards, Will tells us that " I am so proud I tried new foods!" Michael asked him, "do you think you tried new foods because you went to a Mexican restaurant?" And Will said, "yes, I ate Mexican food!" Just to be clear, he ate chicken nuggets and strawberries. Not exactly exotic new foods! Silly kid!
We've started introducing him to the idea of chores to make money. And he has been saving his little earnings in a makeshift jar that we turned into a piggy bank for him. Last week he finally had enough to buy something. He really had his heart set on one of those matchbox motorcycles. They cost about $1.10 with tax and he had $1.25 in his piggy bank. We ventured out to Target and he spent a long time carefully choosing the vehicle he wanted. In the end he got a tractor instead of a motorcycle. But it was so cute to see how proud he was to give the cashier his little bag of money and buy something for the very first time. He was already talking about the next thing he is going to buy, as we were leaving the store. I think hes getting the idea ;)
This month has been really tough with the 3 year old behavior. Will's go-to emotion is "sad." He is ALWAYS sad about something it seems, and requires a hug for comfort, each and every time he gets sad. Lately its constant though. If he is frustrated that he can't do something physically, if I tell him 'no' about something, if he is unable to play with a toy that Nora has, basically ANY time something doesn't go his way, he gets sad, flops down on the ground and starts wailing and demanding a hug. Its exhausting. He will also often throw things when he is frustrated and that makes me very upset. Often he likes to throw hard toys, right at people's heads. It just infuriates me. We've been dealing with that behavior off and on since he was one, but its been particularly bad the last few months. 
The other more difficult phase we are going through, is Will being VERY unwilling to share. Not just with Nora, but with anyone at any place. So pretty much any play date here ends with tears and/or him throwing cars at people or at walls. And its not just play dates. This nonsense also happens with strangers at community centers. If another kid DARES to play with a toy that Will wants to play with (and Will ONLY wants to play with unavailable toys), then I have to rush over (assuming I can get there in time) to prevent him from throwing a toy at the poor kid and having a melt down right next to him. I usually end up carting him away, while he wails at the top of his lungs, and kids and adults look on with confused looks on their faces. I dont know what Will is going through at this time to make him suddenly behave like this, but it really stresses me out. I have tried just about everything I can think of to stop it, and so far he continues to act this way. I am beyond frustrated. I feel like I can't take him anywhere. And of course he does all of this and more to poor Nora every day. So I am constantly breaking up fights and mediating his constant aggression. This is really a tough phase! Luckily for him, he also has his cute moments. Below are a few quotes from this month, that I managed to capture before I forgot:
Will: "when I am 16 I will drive a car!"
Me: "oh yeah, what kind of car do you want to drive?"
Will: "A bicycle!"
For the first time EVER Will said "I love you" to me, totally unprompted! Took him long enough!Will was running to his room and I said, "wow Will you are so fast!" And he said, "yeah I am totally fast!"
The other day he climbed onto this tall play structure where he was standing above the level of my head. He excitedly told me, "mom I am as big as you are! I'm 32!" I had to laugh.
I told Will that I was going to give him some cough medicine and he said, "mom, I'm a little sick." And I said, "I know, this will help." So I gave him the dose and then a second later he says, "mom I'm a little better!" I wish my medicine worked that quickly!
This has been a challenging month to say the least. I think likely he is in the middle of not just a growth spurt, but a mental development phase as well. He is suddenly understanding so many more things and is able to talk more clearly and completely. I am hoping that all of the recent aggression is due to a mental development phase and will pass soon. In the mean time I am trying to be as patient as I can and focus on the good things as often as I can. Parenthood can sure be tough at times. There is so much second guessing and there is no way to know, moment by moment, if you are doing the right thing for that particular child. All I can say is that I am doing my best, and I work very hard to improve and learn from past mistakes every day. I hope in the end, that that is enough!
Comments
Post a Comment