Screaming Monster Baby

Roxanne is going through a difficult few days. In my perception, babies seem to go through little phases of baby puberty where they are just totally fussy and unhappy. The worst part of all for Roxanne is the high chair. I am really getting frustrated with that. She doesn't seem to be able to stay in the high chair long enough to eat a full meal before she's having a meltdown and arching her back and banging her head on the back of her seat. During lunch while I'm at work, I just basically let her have her tantrums. Usually by the end of the meal, she's had at least three or four. I typically give her something to try and curb it, like a sippy cup, which amuses her for a few minutes as she sucks water out and then spits it out (loudly), or a baby spoon, which she chews on furiously. Both of these usually get thrown on the floor several times over and these days Roxanne says "uh-oh" as they go overboard.

I'm thinking that one of the drawbacks of us sort of skipping over baby food is that I'm not sure she's really getting a lot of food at mealtimes. Sometimes I think she is fussing because she's hungry and can't get full fast enough. Or she's just stubborn. Or both. On Sunday night I made a big batch of mashed potatoes just for Roxanne, and we basically stripped her down and plopped a heap of them on her tray. I want her to get some practice with feeding herself with a spoon, and the potatoes are perfect. She's pretty good so far, but she definitely makes a BIG mess.

Spending all of my time with Roxanne is really wonderful, but it does allow me to see how frustrating she can be from time to time. Which obviously is normal. But it's funny how the rose-colored glasses come off fairly quickly once you get to spend more than three waking hours a day with your baby. It's so much more than that though. Even when I'm frustrated with her, I still have so much gratitude that I'm getting to watch her throw a fit. Isn't that the cheesiest and most cliche thing you've ever heard? Sue me.

I've also been able to exercise a lot more lately, taking Ben and Roxanne on 30-45 minute walks at least four days a week. I also started Weight Watchers on Monday, which is not super fun, but seems to be working. I definitely feel better already. I'm eating more vegetables than I ever have before. And I actually like them! Just in time, too, since Roxanne is crawling more and more and I want to keep up with her. She also pulled to standing on Ben's new fire truck on Monday and even took a couple of shaky steps as she pushed it along the floor. She's going to be leaving for college before I know it.