I Hope He Didn't Get THAT Look From Me

I guess Matt was hinting in his comment yesterday that I needed to tell a story from our visit with Lauren and Will on Saturday. Will is fourteen months old, mobile, and into any toy. Patrick was sitting on my lap because he refused to show off his limited sitting skills that day and was playing with his twisty, clicky toy. Will thought the toy looked cool and reached for it to see if Patrick would share. When he didn't offer the toy to Will, Will just took it himself. Apparently Will thought the toy was as fun as it looked, because he was so absorbed in it that he completely missed the withering look Patrick sent his way. I didn't know children as young as Patrick had developed the ability to send looks that could kill. I do believe it's about time to start working with Patrick on the concept of sharing. I never want to see my child with such a horrible look on his face ever again.

Ever since Patrick's early days, he's been called dramatic. He would twist himself into some of the most unusual positions in his incubator, perfect outward embodiments of the emotions we assumed he must be feeling inside. His flair for the dramatic has only increased over the past months. Tummy time on Sunday was a perfect example of his drama queen tendencies. As always, he was crying to show he was unhappy on his belly. The longer I sat there talking calmly to him, though, the more the screams began to sound forced. Finally recognizing the screams were getting him nowhere, he played the pity card, laying his head on the ground and whimpering. It looked like he had given up. Then Daddy walked into the room, into his line of sight. Matt and I both knew what was going to happen before it did: the second Patrick saw Daddy, that head was right back up, and the screaming started all over. He may have given up on Mommy, but Daddy was a new victim and maybe he would feel bad for Patrick and pick him up. Neither Matt nor I felt the least bit bad when we started laughing loudly right in Patrick's face. It was so predictable and so dramatic that laughter was the only logical response, even if he was hoping for pity and cuddling. I have a feeling if we let him, Patrick will turn into the type of kid who will throw full-on whining tantrums in the store to get what he wants, way past the age when that is tolerated.

All of a sudden, yesterday Patrick decided he was going to lick this whole sitting thing. I set him down on his bottom, helped him get balanced, which happened much more quickly than normal, and left him. He cooperated very well, staying seated without falling over for long spurts at a time. If he started to lose his balance and fall one way or the other, he was able to resituate himself to get balanced again. I guess yesterday Patrick suddenly realized it was time to sit.

Patrick sitting well all by himself

Doesn't he look so thrilled to be on his belly again? Look at those teeth, though!

Now he's not as unhappy on his belly. His hair was cooperating well, though, wasn't it?