trial and error

yesterday was a day of trial and error, though i feel like most of my tries ended up in errors.

first trial: i took luke (shannon in tow) to a tiny tots playgroup program over in the richmond district. we missed the first two weeks because of illness and... oversight? anyway it was the best set up i've seen in a while: first they have free play with a bunch of cars, tricycles, rockers, you name it, in this enormous gym. the parents/grandparents/gaurdians all just sit and watch for half an hour while the kids burn off steam. luke loved it; during that time he finally figured out how to pedal a tricycle for the first time. he does fine when there isn't any structure... unfortunately for him there was plenty of structure to follow.

next the teacher lead them in a couple of little "organized" games which mainly consisted of a lot of running back and forth across the gym. it was really impressive to see the teacher, a large, middle aged guy, with so much stamina and enthusiasm with these little kids. after that the kids had a simple little craft time which consisted of paper, glue, and crayons, followed by a snack. then lastly they had some music and dancing time. it was great!

except that luke was completely uninterested in anything but free time. no joke, every new task made him cry. not just whimper, full on break down and cry. he would not join in the organized games, he would watch and point and get excited and as soon as i suggested joining he'd start pouting. the art project i had to force him to join in and once he did he actually didn't mind it. the dancing: forget about it. he loves music and once in a while he'd crack a smile when he recognized the song. but join in? no way. in fact, at one point i went with him to play ring-around-the-rosie, and a little girl took his hand, he started wailing and shouting "ow ow ow." the little girl, who was probably about 4 looked at me and said "why is he crying?" "i have no idea" i said.

2 1/2 year old... i'm so ready for this too to pass. my main consolation for that behavior is that it was his first time there and hopefully he won't be so resistant next time. but i'm not holding my breath. luke is the mayor of rigidtown.

second trial: feeding shannon her first solids. i thought she'd be really interested in this since she's always grabbing at our plates and watching us eat really intently. she was just not that into the rice cereal i offered her. granted the stuff tastes like paste and is about the same consistancy (yes i did try it. no not paste, the cereal) so i can hardly blame her, but i was surprised at her lack of enthusiasm. we'll try again today.



third trial: making shannon cry it out at her regular 4 am wake up time. normally its too hard for me to let her cry, she sounds so heartbroken, so i give in after about 5 minutes and just feed her. but her pediatrician said there is no reason for her to be waking up at that point (especially since i fed her only 6 hours earlier) and that it sounds like she is just developing a comfort habbit. i suspected as much, but its so hard to just let her cry. i was resigned to try last night. she put up a major fight- she cried for nearly an hour. its so obvious she's waiting for me to come get her, she cries one loud wail, and then waits about 5-10 seconds for my response. when i don't respond she cries out one more time than waits. that went on from 4 till 5 am. but she did go back to sleep for an hour. at 6 she woke up to feed again, and this time i gave in. most likely we're going to have to go through this again for a couple of nights. her doc said it could take three or four nights to break the habit. as rough as it was to go through, its really worth it in the long run. the 4 am feedings were killing me.