First, no, I don't mean SHE'S ugly--she's still cute as a button. Big as a garbage scow, but cute as a button.
We were finally able to pull the box out from under her feet and leave out the blanket "stuffing" around her belly, which means she's actually big enough to be in this contraption we've been putting her in for a good month or two now!No, I'm referencing the ugly period in a baby's development when nothing is right for them. Now, I'm not one to make a habit of posing generalizations--ALL generalizations are stupid--but, since we've had two kids now, and both kids have exhibited this behavior, I have to consider this the norm. There will, of course, be exceptions to the rule, but there always are.
And maybe calling it "ugly" isn't quite fair either. What I mean is "The months when you will have to give your child your undivided attention or he/she will be a whining, crying, unhappy child." I suspect this mood is brought on by the fact that the babies are learning to do things but are frustrated because they can't do what they WANT to do. What that might be is a complete mystery to me because NOTHING you help them do will make them happy for very long.
The bottom line is that the kid will either be attached to you or unhappy. I had hoped that it was just Gabe and most babies could be trusted to go about their business more or less quietly off in some corner of the living room. That, apparently, isn't the case. Gabe was needy from the get-go, and he really didn't get out of his Ugly Months until he could walk and very nearly talk. So, more like an Ugly Year and a Half.
Butts' Ugly Months started about a month ago, but they are REALLY kicking into high gear these last few weeks. I've developed a little rotation of activities to try and keep her occupied. Sadly, some of them can't be done when Gabe is awake, which only makes matters worse. For her, at least.
We start in her activity saucer where I hand her a half dozen or so toys to fumble around with. She will maul these toys about a bit, throw them into the air--usually hitting herself and making her cry--pick them up again, then throw them on the floor. I can repeat this process once, maybe twice before she is bored with her toys and moves on to the next most interesting thing to her, self-abuse. If left to her own devices without a shiny to latch onto, she will grab her ears or her hair and pull like there is no tomorrow. When we grab her hands to try and prise them free, she pulls even harder. She is, of course, crying the entire time and gives US a look like we're the ones causing the pain. Or she'll bite her fingers--though it's generally much easier to pull her fingers out of her mouth to stop her doing that.
After the saucer, we move to the floor on a blanket. We start on her back, but she doesn't usually stay there for very long. She's a very accomplished roller by this point. But she doesn't know what to DO when she gets over on her belly--she still hasn't figured out getting back onto her back and she isn't even trying to crawl or anything. I will flip her back over and the process will repeat. After the third time on her belly, she hates it and she'll start trying to eat the blanket underneath her face.
So we move to the couch where I sit her up in the corner and let her sit like a big girl for a little bit. Usually I put a crunchy baby book in her lap so she has something to grab onto. This is good for about five minutes or until she decides that she wants to start kicking around. Kicking around leads to either her sliding down the corner of the couch or leaning forward, where she'll tip forward and try to face plant on the floor.
Keep in mind, these are the "on her own" places she visits. Between each step there is usually a period where she sits on my lap or I carry her around until she gets too bored and squirmy.
Anyway, then we move to her little floor gym or her bouncy chair--or sometimes both. These were her mainstays just a few short months ago, but she's just about had as much of them as she can handle, so neither one of them offers her much distraction for more than a few minutes, tops. The bouncy chair is nice, though, because it's the only thing we have that I can sit her in if we go out to the backyard. Sadly, we can almost never do that because it's ALWAYS windy, and about five minutes is all she can take of the wind.
So, hand her a toy, flip, carry, repeat. And this will carry on until she can crawl, which, god willing, will be SOON. For Gabe it was a new exploration of freedom. For Norah, it's tough to say what it's going to be--we can hardly let her pad around on the floor with Gabe running all over the top of her. Probably it will be a new exploration of her play pen--or the Play Penitentiary, as I like to call it.
Obviously, I'm rooting for her to be, developmentally, at the 18 month stage before Christmas.
And maybe calling it "ugly" isn't quite fair either. What I mean is "The months when you will have to give your child your undivided attention or he/she will be a whining, crying, unhappy child." I suspect this mood is brought on by the fact that the babies are learning to do things but are frustrated because they can't do what they WANT to do. What that might be is a complete mystery to me because NOTHING you help them do will make them happy for very long.
The bottom line is that the kid will either be attached to you or unhappy. I had hoped that it was just Gabe and most babies could be trusted to go about their business more or less quietly off in some corner of the living room. That, apparently, isn't the case. Gabe was needy from the get-go, and he really didn't get out of his Ugly Months until he could walk and very nearly talk. So, more like an Ugly Year and a Half.
Butts' Ugly Months started about a month ago, but they are REALLY kicking into high gear these last few weeks. I've developed a little rotation of activities to try and keep her occupied. Sadly, some of them can't be done when Gabe is awake, which only makes matters worse. For her, at least.
We start in her activity saucer where I hand her a half dozen or so toys to fumble around with. She will maul these toys about a bit, throw them into the air--usually hitting herself and making her cry--pick them up again, then throw them on the floor. I can repeat this process once, maybe twice before she is bored with her toys and moves on to the next most interesting thing to her, self-abuse. If left to her own devices without a shiny to latch onto, she will grab her ears or her hair and pull like there is no tomorrow. When we grab her hands to try and prise them free, she pulls even harder. She is, of course, crying the entire time and gives US a look like we're the ones causing the pain. Or she'll bite her fingers--though it's generally much easier to pull her fingers out of her mouth to stop her doing that.
After the saucer, we move to the floor on a blanket. We start on her back, but she doesn't usually stay there for very long. She's a very accomplished roller by this point. But she doesn't know what to DO when she gets over on her belly--she still hasn't figured out getting back onto her back and she isn't even trying to crawl or anything. I will flip her back over and the process will repeat. After the third time on her belly, she hates it and she'll start trying to eat the blanket underneath her face.
So we move to the couch where I sit her up in the corner and let her sit like a big girl for a little bit. Usually I put a crunchy baby book in her lap so she has something to grab onto. This is good for about five minutes or until she decides that she wants to start kicking around. Kicking around leads to either her sliding down the corner of the couch or leaning forward, where she'll tip forward and try to face plant on the floor.
Keep in mind, these are the "on her own" places she visits. Between each step there is usually a period where she sits on my lap or I carry her around until she gets too bored and squirmy.
Anyway, then we move to her little floor gym or her bouncy chair--or sometimes both. These were her mainstays just a few short months ago, but she's just about had as much of them as she can handle, so neither one of them offers her much distraction for more than a few minutes, tops. The bouncy chair is nice, though, because it's the only thing we have that I can sit her in if we go out to the backyard. Sadly, we can almost never do that because it's ALWAYS windy, and about five minutes is all she can take of the wind.
So, hand her a toy, flip, carry, repeat. And this will carry on until she can crawl, which, god willing, will be SOON. For Gabe it was a new exploration of freedom. For Norah, it's tough to say what it's going to be--we can hardly let her pad around on the floor with Gabe running all over the top of her. Probably it will be a new exploration of her play pen--or the Play Penitentiary, as I like to call it.
Obviously, I'm rooting for her to be, developmentally, at the 18 month stage before Christmas.
NEVER, EVER CALL MY GRANDDAUGHTER A GARBAGE SCOW AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME? EVER AGAIN or there will be no more "As Seen On TV" products for you, buster.
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