Who's In Charge Here?

Oliver becomes more aware of his environment and more self-aware every week. Of course, this happens to all babies, but nonetheless it is an amazing thing to witness that transformation. He now watches as you move around the room, cries when you leave, and turns toward the sound of your voice. He also watches Bella the Bulldog, seemingly curious about her shifty moves and odd noises. That's all new. And it just kills you when you’re feeding him a bottle and he notices your arm, then reaches out his hand and begins to work his fingers gently through your arm hair. While it is clearly curiosity that drives these actions, it is easily mistaken for affection (a little emotional mixup that adults make all too often).

Even better, Olie is starting to manipulate his parents. He's grasped that crying brings response from the parental units, that crying louder brings more urgent response. And this boy understands what it is to want something and want it yesterday. Patience is not in his vocabulary (to be fair, there are no words in his vocabulary just yet). It's as if he's yelling "double time" to his lazy, slow-moving parents. He simply can't believe how slowly we're addressing his wants and needs. "Step It Up!!" he cries. And we respond.

But this leads us to a new beginning, to the next phase where we attempt to train our little cub, as well as ourselves. Most importantly, Olie needs to learn to sleep through the night. More to the point, Olie's parents need Olie to learn to sleep through the night. With his mom back at work, we can no longer afford to be up 2 or 3 times a night. So, we've entered the realm of the crying game…he cries to get attention, which we ignore, which causes him to cry louder, which we ignore with more effort. The cycle continues until he eventually exhausts himself and falls to sleep. Trust you me, this is an empty victory at best, since of course we've all lost valuable sleep in the exercise.

Sounds fun, eh? Just one of many hills to climb, I'm told.