Baby-Toddler Limbo

Jack is not quite two, looks two and a half, and loves to march himself over to the biggest kids he can find and try to hold his own. 

I like to think of this time as baby-toddler limbo. Jack is still a baby in a few ways. He still sleeps in a crib, potty-training is not even crossing our minds, and he cannot yet do so many of the "toddler activities" that you find on Pinterest boards and mommy blogs. However - he is a toddler. He walks, talks, helps when he can... 

Recently we (Jack and I) had a conversation that went like this:

Me: "Are you a baby?"

Jack: "No!"

Me: "Are you a little boy?" 

Jack: "NO!"

Me: "Are you a BIG boy?"

Jack: "YESTH!!"

Then, yesterday, while looking at pictures on my phone he pointed at every picture of himself (recent pictures) and said, "baby!". 

Even Jack is confused. 

This limbo time is hard for a few reasons. Mostly discipline and age-appropriate activities. It's hard to stay developmentally correct without challenging them or putting them into situations that are setting them up to fail. 

Jack is a short-tempered, strong-willed, sweet & snuggly, lover boy who gets M-A-D when he cannot figure something out yet bored in 2.3 seconds if something doesn't challenge him. 

My goal this summer has been to try out something at least 3 days a week. So far, so good- challenging activities are saved for the privacy of our own home, and easy/"safe" (As in, safe from tantrums) activities turn into outings. And, when all else fails, we just go to the park. There have been a few ups and downs, but mostly I am excited about all the learning and fun we have been having in the last month!

I've decided to start a series called, "What to Do With Your Baby-Toddler" where I document our activities. Most of them are obvious but I thought it might be a good resource for other moms with baby-toddlers of their own who are stumped over what to do with their afternoon. 

I get the tantrums, the hitting, and (GASP) Jack even bit me two weeks ago... but, as a good friend says to her toddler on the reg, "We are all learning". 

Posts to come:

Baking Cookies With Your Baby-Toddler

Planting a Vegetable Garden With Your Baby-Toddler

Going to the Museum With Your Baby-Toddler

Going to the Play Place With Your Baby-Toddler

Working Out With Your Baby-Toddler

I'm Scared to Take My Toddler in Public

The title might be a slight exaggeration, but somehow we have gotten to a place of legitimate fear when faced with the idea of taking Jack somewhere where he will be forced to sit still (i.e. out to eat, running errands, etc.)
This is so not us. Since the day Jack was born we have always just brought him with us. We had that little boy traveling to the lake when he was 2 weeks old and TAILGATING at 4 weeks... as long as he was safe and healthy and it wasn't an inappropriate setting for a baby, he came along! 
John and I hate to miss out on things, we have what we like to call FOMO (fear of missing out). I think a lot of people assume that when you have a baby you have to stop doing things. Sometimes, yes, we have to "miss out" on stuff. But those times are rare. 
So how did we get here? To this place of being anxious to bring Jack out into public? Well, I think it all started with that ONE bad restaurant experience. He threw food, refused to sit in his highchair, screamed.. it was a nightmare. Jack is usually easy/happy/fun to take places - but this time it was all different.  So we just stopped. We stopped going out to eat with him. Stopped wanting to take him to the grocery store. Stopped wanting to take him over to people's houses. And it sucked. 
And it sucks even worse to think about taking him on an AIRPLANE in May. What are we going to do?! How is he going to sit still for 6 hours worth of flights?! Are we doomed?! 
So last week, we took him out to breakfast. He did great. It was the perfect storm of hunger, quick food, a first taste of chocolate milk, the right toys, and crayons. But it was more just an "ah-ha" moment for John and I. 
We have to EXPECT him to behave. We have to set him up to succeed (yes, Mom, I know you have been telling us this.) It may sound crazy, but we are already starting to talk to him about airplanes. I know I really need to start taking him to church, and other places that require him to be quiet and sit still. 
I don't want to have that bratty kid who doesn't listen and has no manners. But DANG, teaching your child discipline is hard.