Dad's back & Isaac, the Great Manipulator

Dad got back from his research on Mt. Baker yesterday afternoon, much earlier than he said he would. We were so happy to have him back, because Mr. Isaac was being a big pill for his mom. You see, he simply refuses to go to sleep for mom without nursing. For Dad? No problem! 15 minutes of light to moderate fussing, accompanied by Dad rocking in the glider, and Isaac is out cold. When Mom tries the Dad routine, she is met only by screaming. And so because to hear him so upset breaks my heart in two, my darling son has already learned to bend Mom to his will, because he knows if he screams long enough, his efforts will be rewarded with a boobie, and then he can fall asleep, regardless of whether he NEEDS food or not. Now, I am certainly not one to begrudge my son of food, but we're talking like he just ate a half-hour ago and he's pulling this stuff. I wonder sometimes if this is perhaps WHY he looks like the Michelin Man -- I don't want to be one of those moms that's like "Oh, Baby, you are crying. You must be hungry; here you go!" And Mr. Man needs to learn how to fall asleep on his own, of course -- the boobie won't always be there to help him get knocked out. So last night, I tried Michael's patented Dad-approach, following it to the letter with Michael beside me most of the way to ensure I was doing it right. And, though it took me a little longer and a lot more fussing, this time I didn't cave in and Isaac fell asleep at 8 pm and slept until about 2 am. Viva la Mommy.

I also want to give a shout-out to Isaac's Great-Grandma Ross, who turned 72 years young yesterday. I talked her ear off on the phone yesterday about Isaac. One thing I shared with her that I realized when Grandma Jane was here -- I never even thought, not once, about all the stuff my parents did and put up with for me and my brother, until I had my Isaac. Then all the sudden I understood that they had to do the same things for me as I was doing for Isaac, and I was just overwhelmed, because for whatever awful reason, I just had no idea of everything they had done for us. And Great-Grandma Ross concurred, that you can't really fathom how much your parents do for you until you become a parent yourself. Perhaps that is also some of the fun of becoming a grandparent?