My Stubborn Boy

Whenever I point out how stubborn my son is, my wife says "I wonder where he gets that from?"

Shane has started resisting solid food more and more lately. Today, I've offered baby cereal w/applesauce, a Gerber 3rd stage chicken dinner, and Ritz crackers to no avail. I did get him to eat some cheese at one point, but he's been pissed off every time I offer him anything but a bottle. I eventually caved and offered a bottle, but I made him hold it up. THAT made him spitting mad. Shane ended up holding the bottle long enough to get a meal in, and all the fussing tuckered him out. He's sleeping in the other room while I type this.

It's hard to know what battles to wage sometimes. Nana had me on bottles until I was close to 3 or 4. The books and online articles I read all say "phase out (or get rid of) those bottles now! Eat more, drink less!" Do I go with has Shane happy and healthy? Or do I shake the boat and force the solid food issue? Shane's healthy. No doctor has said otherwise. I asked Nana if I was as willful of a child as Shane is and she said "Who knows? We gave you whatever you wanted." I like to think I turned out (mostly) fine, and the spoiling stopped at one point (Trust me, I spent 7th-11th grade grounded from electronics on weekdays! No C's were allowed.).

Such is parenting. It's all decisions and doing your best to make that decision work while praying you don't screw your kid up 20 years down the road, right? For now, I'm going to stop buying whole milk and transition Shane down to 2% once these gallons run out. He's been doing better with water too, so I plan to offer that between milks and keep on offering solid food. Hopefully, it's just a teething thing and he'll go back to eating solid food again soon enough.

Time to sneak upstairs and get Shane's sheets. He somehow managed to pull down his diaper and pee out the side or something this morning. There was a big old wet spot on the bed, but the diaper wasn't full enough to have been an overflow. It ain't always fun, but I do believe the work is good for the soul and it's for a good cause: my son!

I love ya kid, even when you think I'm the devil. Remember that in your teen years, please.

UPDATE: It has to be teething. Shane's been tugging at his ears and wouldn't eat readily for Nana either. Most of what you're reading in this post is a tired and frustrated Dada from a fussy and unhappy baby who's normally much happier. I love being a father and could never go back to a life without the responsibility, but damn it's tiring keeping up. I'm looking forward to when Shane's a little older and a little more independent. I used to have a great time playing with 2 and 3 year olds when I taught Sunday school way back in my teenage years.