Dr. Destructo
Raising boys! Aieee! Is it seriously going to be this way from now on? Adam’s not crawling yet but he has figured out how to scoot around on his bum. He leans forward and pulls with his hands while kicking wildly with his feet, he looks like a crab. We’ve now started referring to it as crabbing and we’ll tell him to “crab on over here” and get whatever he’s wanting. So movement - yay! Though we’ll probably get in trouble for encouraging it when his therapist comes next week because she really wants him to crawl. I do too, but he gets so upset when we try to get him into crawling position. He collapses into tears and sobs and then wipes snot all over my carpet. We obviously have a way to go with the crawling so I’ll take crabbing for now. Now that he can move, he’s everywhere and in to everything. And he’s rough! Lots rougher than my girls were. Toddler toys the girls played with that we’ve been saving for years in the basement have been quickly dispatched to that great toy box in the sky. Board books have been torn apart, doors and windows have been snapped off of houses and barns, electronics have been smashed, and stuffed animals have been horribly maimed. And it’s not just his toys. He’s been singularly responsible for the destruction of several containers of eyeshadow (mine), a pair of sunglasses (mine), some magazines (Dan’s), and a My Little Pony Sit ‘N Spin display stand (Mia’s). Dan has started calling him the Tasmanian Devil because he crabs through the house like whirling dervish destroying everything in his path. I’ve been sensitive to the whole “nature vs. nurture” debate since we had Adam and I do find myself treating him differently than I did the girls. When they bumped their heads or fell while learning to stand I’d coo and cuddle them until they felt better. With Adam I find myself telling him to be tough and when I notice the difference, I hate myself for it. But he is tougher than they were and I don’t know if it’s because he’s just that way or because we expect it of him. Either way, I fear for us when he finally learns to walk. Thanks, everyone for your kind comments about the baby. My due date is January 13 which means if this one comes as early as Adam did, I’ll have a Christmas baby. Not really looking forward to that possibility but if it happens, it happens. There’s nothing we can do about it now. (Shoulda thought of that a few months ago and done the math a little better, eh?) I did some first level genetic screening in July, mostly because I’m 35 and birth defect risks increase quite a bit at that age. Of course we’d accept and love a disabled child just as much as we do the others, but I wanted to be prepared. It doesn’t help that the paperwork I’m getting from my doctors and insurance company justify the reason for the screening as “advanced maternal age.” Phooey. I have a tween hitting puberty, I don’t need anything else making me feel old. The tests came back normal and our risk for Downs Syndrome dropped from 1/60 to 1/2400. So things are looking good so far. My next ultrasound is scheduled for August 29 and we’ll find out the gender. I hope it’s a boy for Adam’s sake so he can have a buddy but I won’t be disappointed if it’s a girl either. I’m not quite ready to give up the dress up, princess, twirly dress thing and Amy and Mia are definitely too old for most of that.
2 Responses to “Dr. Destructo”
Leave a Reply
August 4th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Crawling is overrated. I didn’t learn to crawl till after I was already walking. I scooted around while sitting as well. The doctor said I was just creative. My grandma was convinced it meant I would never read. Look at me now!
August 5th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Boys are definitely different from girls…just wait until he’s putting holes in all of his jeans from crawling around on the floor pushing his cars and trucks around. Or creating forts out of every cushion, pillow, blanket, and chair that can be found in the house! Although Reed was a very calm, content baby, he was a rough and tumble toddler that had me wanting to pull may hair out on occasion! I’m happy to hear that testing on the new baby has gone well!