Parenting is not for the weak or the lazy

Have I mentioned how difficult it is to parent a 1 year old? The last few weeks have been extremely trying. I look at the pictures above and wonder what happened to my sweet little boy. I frequently wonder if I'm being too strict and and always worry that I'm being too harsh. Our most frequent battles are over not touching the dvd player, throwing everything off the highchair tray and diaper changes. He gets his hand swatted when he disobeys but he cries for 5 seconds and is back to doing what he was just disciplined for. I know he's worse when he's tired so this morning I put him down for his nap a little earlier than normal but he's just screaming in his bed. I'm hoping (probably naively!) that we're just getting the terrible 2's out of the way early. One of the hardest things I think is looking back at the day and realizing that the bad outweighed the good. It's difficult to swallow. As a mom you think it's your responsibility to make your child's day great so when you have a not so great day you feel at fault. I keep reminding myself that this is a season that will pass. There will be easier (as well as more difficult) days ahead. Raising a child is not like babysitting. I'm not always going to be the fun one.

I realize that the above paragraph was mostly word vomit and possibly doesn't flow well but my brain is mush and that's what happens. I am up for any advice from parents on how to handle screaming, discipline and expectations!

Now on to good things! Owen has slept through the night 5 nights in a row! The best part is I didn't even do anything to train him. He's been going down at 7:30 and getting up around 7:00 which is great. He then naps at 9:30 and again around 2:00. Lately the morning nap has been at least an hour and a half and the afternoon nap is maybe an hour.
Owen is also doing pretty well at following directions when he wants to. He was playing with a Tupperware bowl the other day and put it on his head which was really funny. After that happened I started asking him to put things on his head and he will try! Most of the time it just gets to his ear but he tries. He'll drop his paci in his crib when I ask him to and he'll look for his owl blanket.
He enjoys putting things in containers then dumping them out.
He loves playing with my phone and figure out how to push the button that will bring up the photo of him and I.
He's obsessed with buttons. I was holding him the other day and he kept pointing at Pat then we realized that he wanted to touch the buttons on Pat's shirt.
He likes broccoli and pasta but not a lot else. He's still really picky which is frustrating. Even his beloved Cheerios have lost some love.
He signs "more" for everything. Signing "all done" is usually flailing arms and a disgusted look. Instead of signing "milk" he beats my chest and looks down my shirt.
He loves dancing to music.
Banging the cabinet doors is fun but when mom says "bang!" it is hilarious.
I gave him milk for the first time last night. He is not a fan.

Pasta night

Valentine's Eve dinner

Just driving around the mall on my birthday!

I tried so hard to keep his mouth off of that thing but no luck.

Sleeping, standing, and discipline

I can't get over how much Owen has changed in the last couple of weeks. He's becoming more coordinated with walking and crawling. He pretty much only army crawls when he's not on carpet. After watching him I think it's because it's too slippery to stay on his knees so he just sticks to using his arms. He still doesn't really venture out of the living room which is good and bad. It'd be nice if he would just crawl into the kitchen if I'm in there instead of crying for me but at the same time it's nice to know where he is.

Now that he knows how to pull himself up in his crib he does it all of the time. Getting him down for a nap has become more of an ordeal because of this. He hasn't been sleeping as much lately and I'm thinking he maybe needs to go to one nap instead of two. I'm going to start that tomorrow and see what happens. I moved his bedtime from 7 to 7:30 last week for reasons I can't really remember. He's been napping for less time (today was 45 minutes each) so we'll try 1 nap and if that doesn't work we'll move his bedtime back to 7 and see what happens. I'm not thrilled about the prospect of only one nap but I remember saying that about going from 3 to 2 and it ended up being okay.

We've started to discipline Owen for a few things when he's doing something he knows he's not supposed to do. He falls apart when it comes from Pat but when it comes from me it's almost like he's thinking "is that all you got lady?!" He'll stick his bottom lip out when we say no and when the "no" comes from dad it is quickly followed by many tears. All I get is the lip and a straight face which can be hard to not laugh at at times. Pat has learned that he has to be extra loving after the "no" since it seems to affect Owen so deeply. We definitely have our work cut out for us with this guy!

I've become obsessed with watching Owen play lately. Now that he has some mobility he's exploring everything and it is fascinating to see him try and figure things out. Sheesh. I love that kid so much!

Check out my new skill!

He's a pasta with pesto over mac n cheese kind of kid. 

Reading Resolution

I don't typically make New Years resolutions but this year I made a goal to finish at least 1 book a month. As of today I've finished 3! Before you get all impressed though the first 2 had been previously started so I just needed to read the last half. I said my goal was FINISH a book :)

Anyway, here's what I've read.

Shepherding a Child's Heart was the last book I finished and has left me with a lot to think about. I feel like Pat and I have just begun the process of parenting with Owen. I feel like the first 9 months of his life were all about keeping him alive and now we've needed to begin the training and disciplining process. This book talked about how we as parents on God's ambassadors to our children and are raising them on his behalf. It also talks about not getting caught up in adjusting your child's behavior but rather focusing on the heart issues that are causing the behavior. I became overwhelmed with the weight of what we have been called to do as parents but am reminded that God gives us the tools and resources we need in his Word and that as long as I'm seeking his wisdom this whole parenting thing can be done. I'm sure I'll be reading it again!