Weird Quirks

While we’ve made progress in getting Caitlyn to say a few more words (she can now say da-da, go-go, and ma-ma), we’ve also taken a few steps back in other areas.

Caitlyn’s always been pretty good at going to sleep at bedtime and naptime, but recently, she’s been refusing to go to sleep whenever the wife tries to put her to bed. When I’m the only one around taking care of her, sleep time is a snap, so I suggested to the wife that during bedtime, she say goodbye to the baby and then physically leave the apartment for a few minutes.

Sure enough, right after the wife leaves, Caitlyn will march herself straight to her room and then ask to be put in her crib to sleep. Even cuter is when she realizes she forgot her pacifier and then makes a beeline for the kitchen to get it before heading back to her room.

I’m not exactly sure what to make of this besides the fact that maybe the baby thinks the wife is fun to be around and doesn’t want the party to stop. Which means that I’m the boring party-pooper, leaving the baby no other option but to go to sleep when I’m around.

Or, could it be due to the fact that I rule the roost with an iron fist and refuse to cave in to the demands of a crying and whining baby like the wife does. I like to think it's for this reason that Caitlyn behaves better when she's around me.

Also, getting Caitlyn to sit quietly in the car has become more of a hassle. The wife usually sits in the backseat with her, which leads to a lot of whining and fussing, most likely because she wants to be held.

I’ve also come up with a solution for this. Whenever it’s time to go, I’ll have the wife say goodbye and leave the apartment first. Then, we’ll follow a few minutes later. What Caitlyn doesn’t know is that the wife is quietly hiding in the front passenger seat of the car. Therefore, she doesn’t bother whining or screaming because she knows I won’t be picking her up any time soon.

Now that the wife has experienced first hand what it's like to have the baby go to bed by herself and quietly sitting in her car seat by herself, she's speechless and at a loss for words. And that's led to a lot of wondering on her part as to what she's doing to make the baby so naughty.

I got two words of advice for her, 'iron fist.'