Stuff
I think I’m writing this to have a bit of a bitch because I’m tired and grumpy, but the reality is that things are mostly okay at the moment. Dan is having a break from therapy so that’s easing the pressure a little. Of course it would help if we could find a nanny.
The boys are also going to sleep quite well and we’ve reduced our stress by turning off their monitor so we don’t have to listen to them settling and stirring in their sleep. However Dan has failed to sleep through the night for about three weeks and consistently wakes at about four every morning. Sometimes he goes back to sleep on his own, and sometimes he ends up in our bed, but either way Richard and I are losing sleep every night.
Lachlan has also entered the terrible twos and I’m beginning to fear how bad it’s going to be since he is incapable of telling us what he wants. He can’t even say yes or no to simple questions. Then he hits and kicks and headbutts when he doesn’t get his way. I’m constantly scolding him about his behaviour which then leads to more outbursts and more scolding. We are all so miserable and cross much of the time.
Dan is also having behaviour issues, but in some ways it’s worse because he doesn’t really care (or understand?) when you tell him off. His method of expressing his rage, which doesn’t happen often yet, seems to be to scratch the target of his anger. It’s quite surprising and distressing when he does this. I’m really beginning to think I’m failing as a parent when I see this happening. Where do they learn that violence is such an effective way to hurt and upset people? They’ve never seen violence from us.
Anyway onto some good news. Lachlan had a bowl of cereal to himself this morning. Normally he shares Richard’s or my cheerios as well as having his weetbix, so this morning I gave him a bowl of his own. He did ok but needed some help scooping the food and I helped him drink the milk out of the bowl afterwards. Unfortunately this good behaviour was balanced by the fact that he tipped the bowl over and spilt the contents all over his table/ tray. Luckily he didn’t pour it all over himself and I could scoop most of it back into the bowl.
So I’ve made another resolution to try and put some finger food or normal food in front of him at every meal, even if he doesn’t eat it. Let’s see how long that lasts…
