a battle of wills

Cory is now 14 months old. I can't believe it. As sentimental as I am about his babyhood slipping away, I have other intentions for this post. As Cory gets older, we delve deeper into understanding his personality and the things that he likes, and of course, the things that he dislikes. I would like to take a moment to share with all of you the person that my little baby is turning into.

Cory is hilarious, and he absolutely loves to laugh. It doesn't take much to get that belly laugh out of him, and it truly melts my heart every time. He laughs at everything. He is definitely ticklish, but he laughs the most when I dance around and almost tickle him. He just cringes in anticipation and thinks it is the funniest thing. He's always been a very smiley baby, and I absolutely love that about him.

One of Cory's favorite things is music. Almost any kind of music stops him in his tracks and catches his attention. He will do one of the following to show he likes the music that's on: 1) he will bounce up and down really fast, or 2) he will shake his head back and forth really fast. He hasn't quite mastered tempo and rhythm, but we've got time for that.

Another thing Cory loves to do is sleep. He sleeps more than any other child I've ever known, which is great for our busy full-time student/part-time employee schedules. All you have to do is say, "Cory, are you ready to go to sleep?" and he gets giddy with excitement.

Cory also adores bath time. He crawls as fast as he can upstairs and to the bathroom as soon as we announce it's time for a bath. He loves the water, and he loves to splash. We know that when he gets a bath, we will have to change clothes afterward seeing as they are soaking wet from all the splashing. Since he has eczema, he can't get a bath very often, but when he does he is the happiest kid on earth.

Now that I've painted a picture for you of the happy-go-lucky baby that Cory is, I would like to counter that by introducing Cory's dark side. After my brother, Tanner, Cory is the most stubborn person I have ever met. He absolutely will not do anything that is not his idea. This is one of the main reasons that he is still not walking. Although, we just found out that his right foot turns inward, I am convinced it is his stubbornness that has prevented this milestone. If we try to make him stand up, sit somewhere, or do anything that he doesn't want to do he throws his arms in the air, bends his legs and slides all the way down to the ground. Yes, it's a little bit funny, but it's mostly frustrating. The most frustrating part for me is knowing that it will only get worse and he will only get more stubborn as he gets older (reminder: I saw evidence of this with my brother) An example of Cory's stubborn nature and the inspiration for this post happened during Cory's "naptime" this morning. Cory is a baby that LOVES a schedule. He put himself on a strict schedule for naps, and he thrives on it. His morning nap is from 10:00 to 11:30 every day, so at 10:00 today I put him down, and he was of course giddy with excitement. I came downstairs and noticed after about 10-15 minutes that he was standing up and talking, which is not like him. Usually, he is asleep within minutes. I figured he had a dirty diaper, so I went to change him and put him back down. I assumed he would go right to sleep, but instead he decided to start a screaming fit. He screamed off and on for about an hour. I went in half way through to rock him for a minute just so he could calm down enough to go back to sleep. After he calmed down and looked very tired, I gave him cues that it was nap time and he got very excited. The second I shut the door the screaming continued. I decided to give him until 11:30 to fall asleep. At 11:20, I started to get nervous and had decided that maybe the morning nap wouldn't happen today. I had accepted it and moved on. I stuck with my plan of 11:30, and at 11:25 I looked at the monitor and what do you know, he was asleep. This is just one example of the "battle of wills" that we experience on a day-to-day basis. I know that this is not unlike many other children, but I fear for what the future holds for this child. Before I talk more about my brother, I want to give a disclaimer that I truly love him. He is such an awesome guy, and we have always been very close. He is very talented and creative, and I know that he has so much in store for his future. Having said that, he is certainly a VERY stubborn person. When he was a child, it was a battle to get him to do ANYTHING. We fought to get him out of bed in the morning, get him to get ready for school, get him to do his homework, get him to take a bath, get him to get out of the bath, and get him to go to bed. It was never-ending and it continued all the way through high school. Tanner just has his own mind, and nobody in the world can change it. I fear that Cory will be like this, and honestly I don't know if I have the strength to parent another Tanner. I do know, however, that God gave me this child and He gave me the gift of being Cory's mom, and I am so grateful for that no matter how stubborn Cory gets. I love that little guy more than life, and he is such a joy to have around. I just know that we will have many battles of wills, and I pray that God gives me the strength and patience to live through them all.