The Walking Time Bomb

So as of today Finn is 17 months and 1 day old. Since he was born we, his parents and his grandparents, all marveled at how he was such an easy baby. He slept well almost right from the start, he was content with me dragging him all over town doing this and that, he was a spectacular eater and gave me no problems with breastfeeding or transitioning to solids, he rarely fussed for anything. I spent a lot of time knocking on wood and wondering how I must have great Karma and well maybe I'll have three, you know, we'll see.

Then around 16 months eye teeth started to come in and wreak havoc on his mouth, speech was beginning to develop, and mah baby who was content just walking around the house playing nicely started running around the house and climbing on the furniture testing limits any which way he could. All of a sudden he noticed he had all of these mad skillz and dammit he was going to USE them. I also started participating a lot more in playgroup activities with this local mom's group I joined. The events are usually once a week in the AM. Well at this point Finn is still napping twice a day so I started playing around with his sleep schedule to attend these events. NOT A GOOD IDEA. Ever hear the phrase "let a sleeping dog lie"? It applies to Finn as well.

So back to this mom's group we joined. So yeah, I just HAD to go and join the ONE damn mom's group in all of St.Louis where each and every child (15-24months) is the most well-behaved, laid back, well-mannered, developmentally advanced child I have ever met. You think I am exaggerating (I know I tend to do that). Unfortunately, I am not this time. Their angels all sleep until 7-8AM and take one long afternoon nap and they have been doing this since their first birthdays. Their children say please and thank-you or sign it to you when they can't say it, and sit quietly in there mothers laps during story time and puppet shows. WTF???? I mean come on, there is even one mom who just had her second baby and she effortlessly straps the baby in her sling and her 20-some month old son patiently hovers by her side. Her newborn is always sleeping and I never heard her cry or make a single sound and I have occasionally peaked in on her to make sure she was a human and not some doll she carries around posing as her newborn child. Now as I write this I must say that Finn is STILL a good toddler by anybodies standards. He wakes every morning around 6:30AM (even after pushing back his bedtime from 8 to 7:30). He needs a nap around 10:30 (right in the middle of all of the playgroup activities) and if he doesn't get his sleep he proves to be quite challenging. This includes and is not limited to, running around new places and trying to escape out open doors, protesting when we have to leave (no he doesn't say "Please mama, can we stay?"), and NOT sitting quietly for anything. I look like a harried frantic mess while other moms smile politely at me (yeah, can you imagine???). I am the only one who has had to leave early because god forbid we get out of the pool after 2 hours of playing and have a DAMN SNACK. Sometimes I think I should just quit going to the playgroup all together until his sleep schedule is sorted out but then where would his socialization come in? Not to mention that it is not ALL bad. After all, he has had some less rowdy more peaceful days and he has learned to share toys and food. The thought of trying to find a mom's group where all the children have some sort of behavioral problems came to mind...but,COME ON, I am not THAT self-loathing. Never, NEVER.

I hear these strong-willed children just get more so with age. Damn you, John, this all your fault.