Learning to Express Himself

The Baby Center update I received this week told me that at 7 months and 2 weeks, Mr. Mister is finding "new ways to demonstrate how he feels emotionally." Well, they sure got that right. Here are some not so highlights of his new ability to tell us how he feels:

1. Now that he can roll all over the place, the diaper change is not so fun. He wants to roll to his stomach, which makes it hard to change him so I have to pin him down and quickly put the diaper on. When I won't let him roll over, he starts crying, as if I've just pinched him. I think that means, "I'm not happy on my back." As soon as I sit him up, he's all smiles.

2. Yesterday when I gave him a piece of watermelon in the little mesh fruit feeder that allows him to eat pieces of fruit without choking on them, he LOVED it (an understatement, as he scarfed it down). When I took it from him to put another piece in, he started crying. Full out crying because I took his watermelon. We just laughed at him...it was actually pretty cute.

3. He's grown a little more accustomed to tummy time but his first love is standing. So if I try to put him on his tummy after he's already spent a while on the floor, he starts crying. Until I stand him up. Then he looks as if it's the happiest moment in his life...wide eyes, big smile, and rocking back and forth (his signature move).

4. The straw that broke the camel's back for me when it comes to handling his new emotional communication... Tonight, we went out for a family dinner with a gift card we still had from Christmas. Granted, we should have known better than to take Mr. Mister to this nice Italian restaurant, but we thought we might enjoy some good family time...just give him a toy or two, feed him a nice dinner of carrots and applesauce with a side of Gerber Puffs and we'd be good to go. That would have worked a month ago. Not so with Mr. Emotional Communicator. He squawked the whole time, letting the entire restaurant know that I wasn't feeding him fast enough or he was tired of sitting in the high chair or that he was getting sleepy or that his toy had fallen on the floor......most people smiled and commented that he was very cute. One man, however, suggested that next time we get a babysitter. Was that for his sake or ours?