Jaden & Mommy alone…Oh my!

My parents left today and Jaden and I were left alone for the few short hours before Daddy got home from work and Mommy had to leave for work. Normally he would get a bottle then go for a nap (haha like we have a normal after only 2 weeks), however, Jaden had a different idea of how we would spend our afternoon. First he wanted to look for Grandma and Grandpa.  Sorry baby, they had to leave us.   I tried to offer him his bottle, but he refused. Is it too cold? Warm it up. Nope, that didn’t work. Maybe it is too hot now. Cool it down. Still no luck, so we give up on the bottle.

Next we try the walker. Jaden is very adept at bending his legs in such a way that you cannot get him in the walker if he doesn’t want to go. He’s the strongest little 22 lb bugger too. So that was that for the walker. Then he starts rubbing his eyes like mad, so I figured he’s tired, and ready for his nap. It was 4:00, a little late, but still manageable. After an hour of trying to coax him to sleep — walking around, singing lullabies, letting him stare out the window while I rock him (Grandma’s trick), letting him listen to his favorite musical toys (the toolbench and/or octopus), rocking him and patting him—- there was no way he was going to give in, and I finally realize the effort is futile.

I take him out of the pack-and-play and put him on his quilt on the family room floor, so that I can at least take another bite of my lunch that has been waiting for me to finish it for 4 hours. This is where Mommy finally catches on. As soon as Jaden saw me put food in my mouth he went off the wall, completely ga-ga. It was hysterical. He started crawling toward the kitchen, with gigantic eyes , moving swifter, smoother and more balanced than I’ve seen him crawl yet. Bingo! That’s it! He must be hungry. Seriously – Again?! He just ate 2 hours ago. This little guy can put it away! He is giving Uncle Kevin a run for his money in the “I can eat more food than you can afford” category.

I was worried he’d get into trouble while I warmed up his food, (he still bobbles over sideways sometimes – that crawling stuff is hard work!)- so after much effort I put him in the walker to let him hang around me in the kitchen. Once I had his food warmed (he knows the sounds and signs) he started going nuts again. He glided toward me at mach-speed, with those big eyes wide-open, and his mouth gaping open, verbalizing all the while that I wasn’t quick enough.

Forget the high-chair, forget the bib – I ended up sitting on the floor with my foot steadying the walker so that he wouldn’t lose balance or start sliding away, and I fed him right then and there. After every spoonful, and before I could even return the spoon to the bowl, he had his mouth open, eyes wide, and was leaning his body all the way over the front of the walker, making it clear that I just wasn’t shoveling fast enough. He didn’t (or maybe I didn’t) spill a drop, because he was so focused on where the spoon was at each moment. I have never seen a kid eat three jars of food so quickly. If the social worker had walked in at that point, she would have thought we hadn’t fed him in two weeks!!