First off, thank heavens for the changing of the earth's tilt and such. It is 7PM, and the little guy is already happily in his crib. Not quite asleep, so there may be a little additional rocking needed, but we would be at the same point about an hour later 3 months ago. He also sleeps later in the morning as it gets light later. Let's keep this up!

I remember the most life-changing advice we received from the pediatrician's office when Liam was an infant: The more they sleep during the day, the more they sleep at night. We were always under the impression that, if it was 5PM and we wanted him to sleep all night, we better keep him up till bedtime. If we could keep him up as much as possible during the day, he'd be zonked out and sleep all night. Oh no - once we learned to go ahead and let him sleep, he would actually turn around and SLEEP during the night. I am so glad we learned that.

It's interesting watching the psycho-social development of your kid. When you have an infant, you spend a lot of time wondering what he will be like later on down the road, and it takes awhile for the little nuances and complexities to start manifesting themselves.

We get a lot of feedback from our daycare about how he interacts with the other kids.
I asked the owner one day recently how he gets along with the other kids, and she said once again that he's extremely passive. A kid comes along and takes something from him, and he just kind of stands there like, "oh well." She said he's that kid who's going to take it and take it until one day, someone does something to him and he just slugs the crap out of him. We'll all secretly be cheering him on behind the scenes (disciplining him, of course), and the kids will realize Liam is not one to mess with.

Of course, my first thought was "my kid is going to go Columbine on us!" I asked if that kind of kid would eventually turn violent as a result, but she said that's just not in his nature. I guess they can spot those kinds of kids early on, and it's not the sweet, passive little Liams of the world.

However, we do have "that kid" on our hands...you know, the one who carries his little stuffed doggie around school all day? He's transitioned from the cumbersome 'Guin to the little dog with a bell inside that we call Belfry. It's got it's ups, though. His teacher was telling us that, now that he has Belfry, if another child takes it away, he is finally standing up for himself and taking it back (immediately! You don't mess with Belfry). She was telling Andy that before that, when a child would take the book or toy he was playing with, she'd root for him and say "if you want it, go take it back!" He'd just stand there and watch it go away.

Freddie carried a little lamb to school when he was a toddler, and he didn't get beat up in school.

Unfortunately, Terrible Two's are creeping up on us. He's become much more of a challenge, as any kid his age would be. We are extremely fortunate in that he is a very easy child to start with. He's easy to handle for the most part, but those trying moments are popping up all over the place now as he tries to assert his independence and communicate the feelings he has no words for.

To me, it's a critical time to get it right, and this is not the age range that I am confident with. I know a lot of people who aren't comfortable with newborns and don't feel they're doing it right. I felt extremely confident that first year, and comfortable for the most part with the first half of the second year. I'm getting there now - gaining more and more confidence and patience by the day, but sometimes it's a struggle.

I say it's a critical time because I have to start with the discipline now, early on. I can't wait until he's 3 and all of a sudden start cracking the whip. The challenge is trying to convey the idea of right vs. wrong with a child who doesn't have any reasoning abilities and who can't quite understand everything I am saying. I'm choosing my battles, but once I have chosen one, I'm sticking to it.

I tried time-out, but it didn't work too well. He got a real kick out of going right back and doing what he was doing to get him sent to time out and then laughing about it. My biggest pet peeve is when he throws his food off his tray, so I have found that the solution is to take his bib off, take him out of the chair, and say, firmly, "pick it up!" If I'm not terribly irritated, I often will laugh behind his back as he picks it up and actually carries it to the trash can. Once he does that, I soften my tone and say "thank you," (though not overly praising as I would if he hadn't done something he shouldn't have) and "we do not throw our food on the floor."

Sometimes as I struggle to find what works for each specific behavior, I find myself feeling extremely guilty later. I feel like I've raised my voice too high or used a hurtful tone. But you know, I'm ultimately the parent, and it's my responsibility to do him this service of teaching him the right way to behave. I would be negligent if I didn't. I may make mistakes along the way as I try to figure it all out, but I guess all moms do.

The other 95% of the time, I (over)compensate with love and praise. That's what it's all about...I think if I could sum up my philosophy in a few words, it'd be "love, firmness, fairness, and consistency."

Putting it into practice is the challenge. Ultimately, though, I will NOT be that mom with the child running around screaming in the store or the restaurant. This is my goal in life!