Warning: Wishes Do Come True

As I teen I babysat extensively. Being the perfectionistic, list-making, future accounting major that I was, I kept a notebook with the names & ages of these children. Though the notebook has not been survived the millennium, I remember that there were nearly 200 names on the list, many of whom were my "regulars." While spending all this time with children, I decided that when I grew up, I definitely wanted to have boys. Busy, rough-and-tumble, energetic boys were my ideal. Sure, girls were fun and sweet and all that, but boys were more likely to share my deep and enduring love of LEGO-building! Plus, they were more likely to enjoy an outdoor tickle/wrestling match than subject me to endless permutations of Barbie and Breyer horse fantasy play. Since I was not a girly-girl, I shuddered at the thought of possible having a ballerina-fairy-princess girl and not bonding well with her. At one point my sister and I joked with each other about getting pregnant at the same time and switching children without our husbands' knowledge if I had a girl and she had a boy. (I don't think we considered that we might both have one gender!)

Disclaimer: Now, before you start heaping indignant comments on my about my stereotyping of boys and girls and my short-sightedness, remember that the paragraph above applies to my thinking at about age 15, and I have matured considerably since then and no longer am afraid of having a girl!

Well, the old adage "Be careful what you wish for!" has come true. I got my busy, rough-and-tumble, energetic boy in a tiny package. I don't think that I fully realized the implications of the fact that crazy-energetic, yet adorable 5-year-old boys who can be somewhat reasoned with start out as crazy-energetic, yet adorable infant boys who can't be reasoned with.

Keaton is irresistably adorable but he NEVER STOPS MOVING. I laugh when friends ask me if we co-sleep. No, we tried that for a few months when Keaton was not sleeping more than an hour at a time and it became "co-toss-and-turn-in-bed-and-get-kicked-and-cried-at-all-night". We all sleep much more peacefully with Keaton in his crib--especially now that he actually sleeps.

AG I recently visited a friend whose 4-month-old daughter happily sat in her bouncer for a full 30 minutes while we ate lunch and talked. AG kept glancing at her like she was an alien creature, and not a peaceful little girl. Every few minutes he remarked incredulously, "I can't believe she will just SIT there!" Yes, that's 30 MINUTES, not seconds (are you listening, Keaton?) Keaton was never content to just sit anywhere at that age. He had to be doing something even if I was holding him. As a result, I got very little done for the first few months after his birth. Well-meaning friends raved about various slings and baby carriers, but Keaton revolted. He wanted to see and interact with everything, so even at 1 month, the only way I could carry him in a carrier was facing outward holding his head upright! Yeah, you can see how it would be a bit hard to load the dishwasher that way. Then there was the matter of him weighing 17 lbs at 2 months!

As you fellow mothers know, now that Keaton is crawling & cruising around furniture, he is constantly getting into things. Fortunately, my 2009 Keaton model came with an upgraded K.E.W. System. For those who don't know, this is the Keaton Early Warning System. When he is headed for something he knows is off limits, he starts laughing/squeaking hysterically as he heads for it! Just this week I was able to avert several potential disasters involving a soda cup, my childhood photos, and my laptop thanks to the K.E.W. System.

Fortunately, my busy boy seems to be blessed with the ability to entertain himself at a relatively young age, provided there are enough random things around for him to explore. We've started "room time" recently, and he can spend almost 1 hour happily exploring his baby-proofed room (minus the poster he shredded the 1st day).

Another bonus is that I have no need of a gym. Hundreds of daily repetitions of hoisting a 26 lb. weight up the slide, onto the changing table, into the car, off of a trunk, and just up and down for kisses and belly blows is a workout in itself. He certainly will keep me in shape as I am quickly progressing from a large step, to a quick shuffle, to a run to keep up with him!

So here's hoping Keaton's next sibling is a ballerina-fairy-princess with a massive collection of frilly pink dresses, Barbies, and Breyer horses who likes to sleep as much as her mama does.