Lucas is 14 Months

My little man is a full fledged toddler, and he has the tantrums to prove it!  I'm still trying to grasp how fast this month passed.  Our days are pretty full with activities, meals, outings, errands, learning time, family time, that I feel that time just flies right past me sometimes. 

 

Lucas is going through some early onset terrible twos symptoms, that my sister had advised me could happen, as my niece experienced the same thing.  Seriously, I lose count of how many times during the day I give myself a time out, pray to God for some extra patience, and tackle the mister's outbursts.  Lucas has shown that he has a short fuse (but I'm sure that's true with most kids his age, he just has the added disadvantage of his Portuguese AND Italian heritages), and his temper is formidable, especially of course when he doesn't get his way, or he senses the word no is coming.  His limited communication skills are clearly still a hindrance, so when he gets upset and he's "talking" to me and I'm trying my best to get a handle on what's wrong, he will just have a total meltdown, crying, raising his arms in protest, until thankfully we understand each other or he gets over it.  Other times when his meltdowns are driven by "no you may not put your hand in the toilet", or "please for the hundredth time do not tear down all the ornaments off the tree", or "let me please wash this measly mug and then we will play together" there is really nothing I can do to tame the tantrum.  He clearly is too young for time out, so most often I resort to "ignoring" him until he calms down and then he meanders over to me with a huge smile all forgotten, or sometimes he sits on the couch with one of us until he realizes that he either a) has to calm down since crying and flaying his arms around is really not the answer, or b) he realizes that we are saying no or danger for a reason.  Its an uphill battle, and discipline is something that will be a gradual process, that is oftentimes exhausting, but we feel that sticking to a plan, or one set of rules; eventually with more comprehension will prove to be easier.

To round off this new world of tantrums and stubbornness, Lucas is incredibly independent.  He refuses to be assisted sometimes with the most mundane things, but then will get frustrated if he can't figure it out.  I swear people, he drives me absolutely batty sometimes, and I don't know whether to shake my head and cry, or just laugh at the situation (sometimes its both).  His independence thankfully is a blessing sometimes, he enjoys independent play very well, it encourages him to try and understand certain toys, and games on his own, he has gained better self-feeding skills, and just overall his understanding of the world around him.

So don't get me wrong it hasn't been all bad around here, I'm just trying to keep it real, and I needed to get that all out there.

Lucas has also shown this month a more playful side grasping the concept of playing much differently.  His favourites activities are anything musical, sorting games, balls, and crafts.  We really kicked it up a notch this month with crafts introducing finger painting, and stickers, and even though his attention span for certain activities is still limited he is enjoying them more and more.  He engages other kids at his playgroup to play with him, and is always all smiles when he meets someone new.  I'm so glad that I really made more of an effort to join this playgroup, since I have seen such a change in him in how he interacts with other children, and seen a huge enhancement in his social skills; especially since he is one of the youngest in the group I feel that interacting with the other children who are already talking more has really helped with his want to communicate.  I'm pretty pumped for another group we are joining in January adding to are jam packed schedule, and keeping the little guy and mama busy. 

Some new words that Lucas learned this month was: good, there, again, and he is making the moo sound when we are learning our animals.  He speaks a lot even if it is incoherent, and I find it pretty amusing when he is trying to tell us something and we guess it right he will turn to us and say yeah yeah, pretty happy with us.  He speaks like an old Italian man with his hands in the air, and grunting when he is perturbed with something, its quite the sight to see.  When he wakes in the morning, he will cry out if he woke up startled or not feeling well, if not he is quite pleasant, just sits and plays in his crib until I go get him.  The best is usually his morning ritual will be to put his aquarium on, and proceed to have a conversation with the fishes, and all his stuffed animals, its adorable and I never rush to go get him just so I can lay in bed and watch him over the monitor. 

Lucas is pretty affectionate, just like his parents, often running over for hugs and kisses quite unprompted, but lately this poor mama gets no love before bed time.  Gianni always gives him his bottle before bed, and I read him a story, just before I leave them to have bonding time I use to get all sorts of kisses, lately nothing, nada, zilch.  Boy and I have to have a talk about that lol. 

I'm pretty sure that sums up the highlight reel for this month.  Everyday is a either a breeze or a head banging against the table kind of day; but overall everyday is a blessing.