Too Big for our Britches

In case you haven't been made aware, 2012 is the year of the wriggling baby. Somewhere between Santa dropping some presents down the chimney and 2011 fading into 2012, Oliver has become this whirling, twirling mass of life bouncing from one dangerous thing to the next. My days now are spent mostly following behind him cleaning up messes, pausing to fill his belly with bananas or sweet potatoes or squash, and then back to trying my best to prevent him from climbing the DVD cabinet or pulling lamps down on top of himself.

Today was no exception, as a matter of fact it could have been one of the more challenging days of parenthood thus far. It should be noted that these are the things that we are now too cool for:

1. Diaper changes. What once was an enjoyable time to chatter to my baby has morphed into a session of baby wrangling that involves one arm trying to pin him down while trying to maneuver his tooshie into a diaper with the other arm.

2. Sitting in the bathtub.  Once again a session of baby wrangling.  While he goes from sitting to standing to laying I'm trying to wash avocado out from behind his ears as quickly as possible.  I do have to laugh though as he sprouts up, peeks over the side of the tub at me and squeals with delight.  At the end of bath time I sit sprawled out on the bathroom floor, shirt sleeves soaked to the elbow, harried and wild eyed trying to catch my breath but loving the feeling of his little body wrapped in his hooded towel.

3. Sleeping at 4 am.  I've read that there is a sleep regression phase that happens somewhere between 8 months and 9 months and good Lord have we hit regression.  Apparently 2012 has switched some circadian rhythm in this child's body and at 4 am on the dot he is wide awake and ready to party.  He'll cry to jolt me from my peaceful slumber and once I'm there he's all "hey mom, how's it going, wanna hang out?" Not cool buddy, not cool.  He'll finally nod off again at about 5 or 5:30 and then we're ready to tackle the day at 7. We can't go on like this much longer. Mom is cranky, dad is cranky and let's just say patience is running thin through this place.  As a note to the only other adult in the house, the next time you put an empty cereal box back on the shelf you better sleep with one eye open, the good news is you'll most likely won't be sleeping because the baby is awake. 

As I rocked Oliver to sleep tonight I let the soft ticking of the clock and the gentle sounds of rain from the sound machine bring me back to center.  I wouldn't change this day for anything. It wasn't long ago I was wondering if I would ever get the chance to be a mom and I'm thankful each day that my prayers were answered.  It may have been a challenging day but I can only hope that tomorrow will be better.  I'll pray for more patience and make myself go to bed earlier because I know that at 4 am I have a date with one handsome little man.