This week summed up by three C's

Of the things about Evan that there are to report on this week, they can easily be summed up in three words: cruising, crawling, and crying.

Cruising

As mentioned last week, he's been getting very good at cruising.  He moves along his play tables, the couch and other furniture, and even his crib!  Just today he spent his whole morning nap whining and cruising around his crib instead of sleeping.  Perhaps he wasn't tired, or perhaps he was just preoccupied with his new skill.  I have to admit it was pretty funny watching him on the video monitor.  Especially, when one moment I look and he's standing in the far corner of the crib, and then next time I look he's up close and personal with the camera!  It was a good reminder that we need to make sure where we mounted the camera on the wall is out of his reach now!

View from the video monitor.

While he's standing and cruising, he has even started to hold on with just one hand while he reaches down to grab something on the ground.  This sign of more gross motor control and balance is making me still wonder if he'll soon try letting go altogether. 

Crawling

Yes, I am officially using the word "crawling" and not scooting or creeping, because Evan has turned the page and tends to do real hands and knees crawling more these days than his tummy shuffle.  It started slowly and occasionally about a week ago, but now he's getting very good at it.  He pops up onto his hands and knees so quickly and easily, and has mastered the motions that help his body move forward without falling.  And he crawls surprisingly fast too.  It's like one day he was just trying to figure out how to coordinate moving his arms and then legs while also keeping himself propped up off the floor, and then the next he has it down and he's off to the races.  

Crying

I know Evan's still teething, as he has his fourth tooth poking through (it'll be his second on top), and possibly more in the queue.  So perhaps that's one source of his fussiness.  However, I'm really starting to wonder if we've entered the age of tantrums?  Up until now we've read and been told that if he is crying we need to attend to him because he needs something.  Yet, at some stage I know they will start to cry just because they aren't getting what they want, and there have been numerous episodes in the past few days where I feel like this may be the case with Evan.  He wants down off my lap, or he wants up onto my lap, or he wants to play with my laptop even though I just put it out of his reach, etc.  Not to mention that he doesn't want to nap or go to sleep so easily anymore.  Part of the distraction may be his ability to stand up in his crib now, but there's more to it.  It's like he dreads bedtime in general, as when we carry him up the stairs to get him ready for bed, he starts to cry as we start ascending the stairs!  He'll sometimes even cry on the last page of the common naptime/bedtime books we read him too, as he now associates them with being put in his crib for a nap or night night.  

I would love to think that this extra fussiness is the teething and that he'll soon go back to the same old easy-to-put-down-to-sleep baby he has been, but could we be entering the new phase of toddler tantrums?  I would love to hear advice and experiences from the other parents out there on this one!  :)