Overnight Bobo has started exhibiting a
‘personality’.
It all began with some solid night-time
screaming about a month ago at nine months. D is the one who wakes up whenever
Bobo wakes up at night, me having thrown in the towel when I night weaned him.
But this series was keeping us both up. After five sleepless nights of picking
him up and walking around in the dark while urging him to pipe it down and
ruling out all other possible causes (too much a/c, too little a/c, gassiness,
thirst, hunger, ear pain), we were tired. I did a quick internet search and found
out that he was undergoing ‘separation anxiety’.
Apparently, when babies realize that they
are their own person and not an attachment of their mama, they freak out
(understandably).
Luckily before I could fall into pieces
from the lack of sleep, Bobo settled down.
Around the same time, he also took his
first steps and his vocabulary improved from a mere ‘tha-tha’ to include other
sounds.
It is now a month later. By the looks of
it, Bobo is past the separation anxiety phase and seems to be rather enjoying
the fact that he is his own little person.
How does this show?
Bobo has started moving all around the
house with his cute duck-walk interspersed with rapid crawling when he needs to
be in some place real fast (like before Mommy can shut her wardrobe door or
Grandma can close the kitchen door or Daddy can disappear into the bathroom).
He would like everyone to keep him posted on what they are up to, thank you
very much.
Bobo likes to touch everything at his
height to see which one elicits a ‘no’ from the adults. He has learnt that
going near the pedestal fan is a big no-no and has decided to avoid it. He
knows that going near the door-stopper is a big no-no but thinks anyone saying
‘no’ is just a big wuss. Considering we use the same tone of voice for both, I
don’t know how he has decided one diktat is to be followed and the other to be
ignored.
He has started playing peek-a-boo with
great keenness. He likes to ‘hide’ behind curtains. i.e. ignoring the fact that
his feet and chubby legs and sometimes his tummy and chest are still sticking
out. He can’t see us, so naturally we can’t see him. Simple, isn’t it?
This thought clearly fascinates him
endlessly. We spend a long time having Bobo sitting behind the curtains, Mummy
going ‘bobo, bobo where are you?’ and then Bobo delightedly throwing open the
curtains to laugh at Mummy.
Look ma, I am my own person.
A variation is when he goes around the
tall, rectangular clothes stand with Mummy chasing him. He has learnt that he
can evaluate through the railings and the drying clothes when Mummy’s huge form
will come towards him and when he has to turn a corner. I was taken aback when
I turned a corner and saw he had already darted out of view.
Golly, he certainly is no longer an
attachment of me.
Bobo has taken a huge interest in playing
and in playing with other kids.
Going outdoors, even if it means Mummy is
not accompanying him?
You bet, yes.
Going on shopping trips just to spend time
with Mummy?
No way in hell.
Eating idli four days in a row?
Ugh
Eating blueberries four meals in a row?
Yummy yummy!
His vocabulary is not yet quite there but
with the sounds he can make when he is Really Annoyed or Really Angry, he can
quite effectively convey that he is surprised we did not go to parenting
school.
So we have a baby who seems to be
developing a personality, complete with opinions.
Life is definitely getting more interesting!
