Well, I knew it would eventually happen. Our sweet, calm, happy baby would begin asserting her independence and expressing herself.
I just didn’t think it would happen quite this soon.
Now 11 months old, Maya is still smiley and sweet and a cuddly, lovable ball of fun who brings joy to our lives every day.
But in the past week or so, she has begun to express displeasure in the form of, well, baby tantrums. Which is really hard for us to accept because, other than those initial few weeks after she was born or when she’s been sick, she rarely cries. You could take toys away from her, put her in a different spot in a room, etc. and change her with ease.
But with this new-found mobility (crawling, standing, pulling up on everything) and a first tooth (yes, first tooth!), she is suddenly a new baby. One who talks ALL THE TIME (though we don’t understand what she is saying — it sounds like Korean at the moment …) she lets us know when she doesn’t want to do something. It doesn’t happen every time, but often now she seems to hate getting into her car-seat now and loathes her changing table. If she’s in a good mood, as she is most of the time, she is fine. But if that isn’t what she wants to be doing at that moment, she yells and thrashes when we change her or try to buckle her in.
Sometimes singing or distracting works (or blowing raspberries on her belly during changings)… but not always.
And we’ve been babyproofing (and learning as we go!), but sometimes she gets into something we don’t want her to and when we move her, she arches her back and gets all pissy. Or if she’s standing, she clenches her tiny fists and makes this awful grunting noise. We felt bad, but at one point last night, Luis and I just cracked up looking at her because she was so serious … and after we laughed, she laughed and all was right in the world.
She’s still uber-snuggly and sweet and just loves to touch our faces and nuzzle close and be near us — and she still flaps in excitement/delight when she sees us pick her up at babyschool. But this new Miss Independent diva business is brand-new territory … and I don’t like it!
I thought the terrible twos are when a baby is, well, two! From doing some online research (read as: a visit to BabyCenter.com), though, it seems like totally normal 11-month old behavior. She is at the stage now where she has greater understanding of the world around her and wants to express herself. Basically, it’s something we need to work through.
My question to all you parents out there: how did you handle this transition from sweet baby to Miss/Mr Independent? When did you notice the switch was flipped? I know it’ll only get worse as they get older … so any tips for these transitions are greatly appreciated!!
Meanwhile, I’ll just leave you with this silly video of our chatty monkey.
Let There Be Light 
Oh I feel you, I feel you, I feel you. LOL On all of it – and, yes, it’s all just starting. I keep joking that soon we’re going to have to suspend all of our possessions from the ceiling because we can’t keep anything out of his reach. I turned around the other day to see Nate on his hands and knees on the dining room table. LOL
As for the independence, I just try to stay calm and not take it personally. I try to imagine hating something or not wanting to do something and not being able to communicate it and/or not being given the choice. It keeps me sympathetic when I’m frustrated. What Maya’s doing now is nowhere near the terrible twos and, if no one’s tipped you off to it yet, the threes are actually the worst. So I also keep reminding myself that I have a few years before it will get easier and, by then, he’ll be a completely different kid (I can’t even imagine him as a four year old).
Oh, and we laugh a lot because the frustration is just so precious sometimes that it’s hysterical. 🙂
HA!! Suspending things might be the way to go! I think I would have flipped out seeing that, wow!! LOL … I did hear 3 is the worst … trying to pretend it’s not true! And good advice about not taking it personally. They’re just exerting their new-found independence but man it’s hard now and will only get harder!!!
Ha! You’re actually quite lucky it took this long, especially with a girl!
Connor’s really crabby, ‘I’m independent’ stage was around 18-24 months but he was never quite as calm as Little Miss anyway.
She’s still so cute, how can you even stand it?!
🙂 I know, they’re born with attitudes, aren’t they? 🙂
Well thank you … we need to plan her one-year shots, maybe at the end of the year?! 🙂