A Brave New World

I mentioned to you in my last post that Lois had started pulling up in her crib, right? What I didn't tell you was that she was doing it because I was making her. Every day after her nap, I would enter the room to find her lying in the bed on her back, staring at the ceiling, chattering away. What's up with that? This kid knows how to roll over. She's extremely proficient at getting off of her belly and on to her butt - because heaven forbid we spend any time on our belly developing arm strength that might allow us to crawl when we can just as easily sit in one place and scream. So, if she's capable of doing all of this, why has she NEVER done it in her crib? Seriously - we often enter her room in the morning and find her head jammed in the corner of the crib - but she's always on her back - always staring at the ceiling - and always very happy you've arrived to help her.


So last weekend I decided it was time for Lois to start helping herself. And every day when I entered her room, I would make her roll over and get herself onto her butt. From that position, she starting showing interest in grabbing the railing and pulling herself up. So I helped her do that, too. And what do you know? After a few days of assistance and lots of repetition, the lazy slug started doing it all on her own. I had to come in and initiate the rollover, get on your butt, grab the rail routine - but once started, she could handle it on her own.


So what conclusion do I reach from this experience? I am the world's suckiest mother. I'm doing exactly what I shouldn't do to Lois -the most dangerous thing I could do - and I don't even realize I'm doing it. I make life too easy for Lois. I have too few expectations - and the expectations I do have are pitifully low. The most frustrating thing is, I know better than this! I have experience working with children who's parents make life too easy for them. Let's just say, they aren't the most pleasant children (or parents) to work with. And apparently I'm working hard at making my daughter the most helpless, babied, spoiled brat in the tri-county area. Mommy guilt is vicious, my friends. Why didn't you tell me?


So it's been a whole new world for Lois the past few days. She's flipping light switches on and off, she's pulling her own wipe out of the package and wiping her own face ( and mine), and she's making several good attempts to reach things that are just out of her reach before Momma moves them closer. I feel like the world's biggest meanie and the world's best mother all rolled into one hormonal and slightly off balance package. But Lois is responding and doing things I probably should have known all along she could do. I just never asked her to do them. Oy vei. Would someone PLEASE write a handbook for parenting chromosomally enhanced, willful, lazy, and slightly spoiled toddlers?


These pictures were all taken Sunday morning. A truly exciting morning at Chez Hogan. Jay went upstairs to get Lois from her morning nap and yelled down for me to get my camera and hurry it up. When we opened the door together, there she stood. Proud as a peacock. She had done it all by herself. No help. No prompting. No hands under the butt to make the final push to standing.


No more lying on our backs and staring at the ceiling. It's a whole new world for both of us, I suppose.

PS. It was another bad hair day. What can I say?