And then on other days....

Sometimes I suspect this blog comes off like everything is great. And for the most part, it is, because Jack just makes me happy, and makes me laugh, a lot of the time.

But not always. Sometimes, in fact, it's tough. For example....

- I don't always know what he's saying. After I wrote the blog entry below, for example, I learned that "Why Do" is actually him asking for WATER. Oops. So when we're eating dinner and he's gesturing at something on the table which I can't imagine what he possibly means, and he's saying "Bit tay!" or something similar, and getting frustrated and upset when I have no idea what he's talking about, but suspect it's something (a beer, the car keys, a metal candleholder) that I wouldn't want him to have anyway....well, that can be difficult. It usually ends in my giving him a selection of things I DO want him to have - his food, his milk, my food, the plastic ketchup bottle - which he shoves away with a "No...!" as if, good grief Daddy, why can't you figure out that I want you to give me the can opener? Yeah, that's not so much fun.

- He has been known to get cranky. This typically happens when he hasn't gotten enough sleep, or his food and/or drink isn't getting to him quickly enough, but whatever the cause, he sometimes gets upset. Maybe I don't want him playing with the house keys anymore right before bed, or I don't want him to go outside at 7 at night in his pajamas, or I want him to eat something besides fruit. Sometimes there doesn't even appear to be a reason. One second he wants cheese, I give him cheese, and he throws it on the floor in dismay. Then he wants it back. So...is he upset because he wanted cheese or because he didn't want cheese? Good question. Two minutes later he'll be happily munching on cheese, the moment forgotten.

- Sometimes the things he most wants to do aren't things we want him to do. (Shocking, I know.) Like playing outside when it's 98 degrees. Or watching "The Backyardigans" on Noggin for a third time. Or wash his hands for the umpteenth time. Or carry his step stool out back for who knows what reason. Or grab Charlie's tail. Minor stuff, for the most part, but when you manage to stop him from doing one thing he shouldn't be doing and he immediately starts doing the thing you stopped him from doing 5 minutes earlier....Sigh.

- Often when I'm changing his diaper, he acts like it's some tremendous affront to his person - and not something we've done every several hours every day of his life. Another good one is getting dressed in the morning; most of the time he's fine, but then there are days when he just wails, as if, again, it's not something we do every single morning, and have done every day of his life. Well Jack, I can't let you run outside naked except for the extremely full diaper you've been wearing since last night, can I? That question seldom resonates with him.

And that's about it. I can't think of anything else to complain about. I think that makes about 796 great things about Jack, 4 not so great. That's a ratio I can live with, so next time we'll go back to stories of him laughing in hysterics as I turn him upside down or toss him in the air, as happened just yesterday. It was a day like any other, and.....