Help! I’m Standing and I Can’t Sit Down!

I did mention this last week, but it briefly got worse, than suddenly got much better, which definitely interfered with the title of this weeks post (which was clever enough that I decided to keep it anyway; and by clever I mean in that hackneyed, threadbare sort of way). I mentioned that Zoe was pulling herself up but having trouble figuring out how to sit back down. Well, during the week she was pulling herself up on everything, all the time, but instantly wanting to move on, so she’d cry because she couldn’t get down. I’d put her in a sitting position, she’d shuffle to another object and we’d repeat the process. Well, by the end of the week, not only had she figured out how to sit, but at one point she was doing squats; standing, squatting, standing, squatting. There was even one brief moment when she took both hands off the table she was standing against. Think first step on the moon. Orville and Wilbur’s first tentative flight. “I have a dream.”

As usual I was trying to get Zoe to take her nap. This usually means I lie down on the bed with a book and let Zoe crawl all over me until just the right moment when I pull her down beside me and she closes her eyes and goes to sleep (it has to be perfectly timed). Usually, when she is being particularly active I will verbally remind her that she is supposed to be napping, at which point she will stop what she is doing and clap her hands. “No,” I tell her, “nap, not clap.” At which point she will clap some more. Subsequent requests that she stop playing and nap are met with defiant stares. She doesn’t even have the courtesy to stop trying to bite the tiny, red nose off the little man on her just for the bed toy.

I’ve noticed, recently, a little detail that I think most parents are guilty of but few will admit to (or maybe don’t even recognize that they are doing). I do it intentionally now, but usually after catching myself doing it unintentionally. What happens is you are trying to get your child’s attention and they are ignoring you (although I like to assume that she is so focused on her task that she really doesn’t hear me). You call her name a few times, then do a little whistle or cluck your tongue, exactly as one would call a pet. The only difference is that pets usually respond.

See photos of Zoe at http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass