Think Happy. Be Happy.

If you have read past entries then you already know my mug that I have drank several years worth of coffee from gave out on me the other day, forcing me to have to buy a new one. So last night when I was at Marshalls, I set out on a hunt in search for a new, stylish yet unique mug that would be worthy of drinking coffee from, everyday. When I was glancing through the selection, nothing really caught my eye and I was almost ready to give up, and just as I was walking away, there it was. A bright, cheerful cup with adorable orange and yellow flowers on it that read the words, "Think Happy. Be Happy." It was absolutely perfect and could not have come at a more fitting time. I say this because at the time, I was feeling pretty down. So down that the reason I was at Marshalls in the first place, was due to the fact that Jack and I had a pretty rough day and I needed to get out of the house. Alone. For the past couple weeks, Jack has been exhibiting some behavioral issues that have left me feeling frustrated, puzzled, and at times helpless. The first issue that we have been experiencing revolves around food and the fact that Jack can never seem to get enough of it. Jack has always been a BIG eater, so much so that he started tolerating table food at a very early age, simply because he was refusing purees and wanted to eat what Matt and I were eating. So we went ahead and ventured into the world of "Baby Led Weaning." At the moment Jack is currently eating 3 meals a day, with 2-3 snacks in between. Here is an example of what we typically feed Jack in a day...

Breakfast: 5 oz. Whole milk, 1 piece of peanut butter toast and an entire banana

Snack #1: Yogurt and 1/2 cup of Annie's Honey Bunnies

Lunch: 4 oz Whole milk, 4 Chicken Nuggets, Mixed Veggies, Cheese Stick, and Grapes

Snack #2: Multi-Grain Chips and Gaucamole

Dinner: 5 oz. Whole milk, Teriyaki Pulled Pork, Rice, Green Beans

 *Not to mention, always having water available, within his reach and sometimes if he seems extra hungry or it's a special occasion we will throw in a 3rd snack.

Sounds sufficient, right? Yet even after all that, he still finds it necessary to constantly go to the fridge and fuss for more. You may be thinking, why not just give him more? And your answer is because I've already tried that. For a couple days Matt and I put it to the test, by giving him doubles for breakfast and on top of that adding additional snack times into the day and he STILL felt the need to stand and fuss at the fridge and when I tell him it's not time to have another snack yet and try redirect him somewhere else, he throws a complete tantrum. I've even tried to give him a visual by setting a timer and telling him that when it beeps it will be time for another snack. He didn't seem to grasp the concept. I try my hardest to remain calm, because I know that getting worked up will only make things worse. This is concerning to me because I feel like denying him food will cause eating issues, yet giving him too much will cause eating issues as well. I am at a loss and and can't seem to shake it off. When he behaves like this, it really makes for a long day, which isn't healthy for either of us. As of now, my plan is to continue doing what I'm doing, keeping in mind that consistency is key. I'm hoping this turns out like every other bump in the road with Jack, where in the end, he always comes through. 

 Now onto issue #2. Are you ready for it? My sweet son is a hitter...and a biter...and it sucks. I feel as if every parent at the Little Gym, has already labeled him "That Kid" and it hurts my heart. Don't get me wrong, Jack also knows how to "show the love." In fact, just today he gave not one, but two girls a kiss, ON THE LIPS. It was absolutely adorable and was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who thought that. But in the midst of all that he also bit a little girl and her mom. We were on the Air Tran and when I looked over at Jack, he biting the moms foot. Gross. I know. All I could say was "Jack, mouths are for biting food, not toes." I apologized to the mom and she didn't seemed too phased by it and was more concerned for Jack and that her foot was inside his mouth. Then to top it all off, he bit the woman's 14 month old daughter in the finger. She immediately began to cry and I felt horrible. I simply said I am so sorry, took Jack out of the room and told him he had to take a break and that it's not okay to bite. Afterwards, I brought him back in to the room, carried him up to the little girl, so that he could see her crying and I said "When you bit Ava, you made her feel sad." I asked him to say sorry and since he doesn't know how to say that word yet, I said it for him. I had asked him to give her a "high five" instead, seeing in his facial expressions that he felt bad, he wasn't in any mood to do that. I said sorry to the mom one last time and moved on to a different activity and that was that. Just when I thought I got my point across, I look over and Jack is trying to pull a kid, who was sitting down on the floor, up by the arms and failing to succeed, he tumbled on top of him and out of frustration, attempted to hit the boy. Lucky for me, I was pretty quick on my toes and dodged that bullet. In my head, I knew that Jack was only trying to make friends, but clearly failed to do so. Knowing that he was only trying to get the boys attention, I said "Jack, If you want to play with Tallen, make sure you use gentle touches." Then I followed up by making sure the boy was okay and also apologized to both him and his dad. Thankfully his dad was really cool about it. Even after all that, I tried really hard to brush if off and at least pretend like I was having a good time, but in my head all I wanted to do was crawl in a corner and cry. I realize this is probably just a stage, and I know Jack isn't the only toddler who has ever gone through this, but with both of these issues going on at the same time, I am starting to feel that it is something I'm doing and I want nothing more than to get to the bottom of this, so I get back to happy thoughts. So here is my solution...Are you ready for it? Just be happy and keep doing the best I can. Not all problems can be fixed overnight, shaping children into good people takes time and love and as long as I am patient, lead with example, and try to show Jack better ways of handling his emotions, we can and will get through this. So here's to thinking and being happy! Cheers.