Manipulated Mommy?

My baby is six months old now. It's so hard to believe that. Where does the time go? I would like to tell you, but you don't have that much time!

Six months is a pretty big milestone in the life of a baby. He can begin eating solid foods, sitting up, rolling over, and mostly he masters the art of manipulation. It's funny how we learn this at such an early age, and Kyle? Yes, he has it down pat.

I was reading in one of my numerous baby books, magazines, etc... about the things that I could be expecting from him this month. One of the things listed was how well he will begin to manipulate his mom. I laughed when I read that. I thought,"Kyle doesn't manipulate me".

That night, it became apparent.

Kyle was in his exersaucer playing with the toys on it. He was happy, laughing, chewing away on his fingers and hands. Suddenly, he looked up and realized that I had gone into the kitchen. He began to scream. I peeked through the kitchen window at him and called his name, and he smiled. He stopped crying and began to play. Then, he looked up again, and realized I had moved away from the window, and began to cry. Now, most of you probably think this is normal for babies - crying when they are away from their mommies. That might be true, but it is also phase one of manipulation. They think to themselves "let's see how fast she comes running if I start to scream."

Phase two began the next day when Mark was holding him. Kyle screamed and cried and practically threw himself out of Mark's arms he was so mad. Mark didn't know what was wrong, after all, he has been teething. I walked into the room, Kyle looked up, and he began to laugh. Phase two complete.

Phase three wasn't as apparent to me until I verbalized it myself to my next door neighbor. She asked me how he sleeps through the night. As I told her that he was up 4 or 5 times a night again, she smiled at Kyle and said, "You don't need to eat that much, I think you are just playing games with Mommy". At that second it came to me, phase three.

So, am I a manipulated Mommy? I guess I probably am. What I have come to realize though is if being manipulated by my six month old means more time to hug him and squeeze him and cuddle and kiss him, he can manipulate me forever!