18 months

hello all. i am here to sing the praises of motherhood again. 18 months is a wonderful age! i feel like i'm taking a huge breath of relief after four months of challenging parenting. several of my posts over the last few months mentioned our lack of sleep and some of jack's tantrum problems. it seemed that the older he got, the harder happiness was to find (for us both) on a consistent basis. but magically, a week before he hit the 18-month mark, he seemed... over the hump. he started playing unattended more, threw less tantrums, and began sleeping well again. at about that time i happened to read a little excerpt out of william and martha sears' "the discipline book," which said:

"The time between the ages of fourteen and eighteen months is very hard for mothers. The high-energy toddler wants to do everything, but he still needs mother involved 'big time.' Mothers of one-year-olds need to gear up for this marathon spurt of giving, because the tendency is to think, 'Ah, now he's one--I'll be able to ease off.' You will, eventually, but not yet. Hang in there through age eighteen months, then be alert for signs that your toddler is trying to make space between you..."

Wow--reading that after the fact provided me with this "Ah-ha!" moment, that made the past several months seem much easier to swallow. So it may have all been developmental after all. If only I had read this earlier. I'm surprised none of my parent-friends warned me about this age. Maybe it's different for everyone? Months 15-17 were particularly hard for us. It's so nice now that he isn't clinging to me 24/7. I can actually finish washing a sink of dishes and he'll play with his toys. He comes in to find me frequently, but doesn't demand to be held constantly. This couldn't have come at a better time, since I had been worrying about how he'll occupy himself when I feed Benjamin several times a day. I guess it's all in the plan of the universe ;) !

Other than that, nothing else to report. I'm at 30 weeks now, which seems momentous. Our camera has been at the repair shop after I dropped it and broke the lens (but thanks to our warranty, it was fixed for free; ssshhh, don't tell them it was my fault). Now that we have it back, perhaps I can post a few photos to liven up the blog. Nothing taken yet, but here's one of Jack and his best pal from a few weeks ago: