July 21, 2009: Turning the Corner (For Real This Time)
Since we've returned from our vacation in Austria/Croatia (more on that in another post...maybe), I've gotten the feeling that Nikola may finally be on the verge of turning the corner from frustrating, Mama-attached, shrieking handful with a knack for getting into everything off limits (love you bud!) to a more independent, communicative and playful toddler. Maybe that's just the vacation talking, I don't know. While I did feel like he "matured" a bit over his month-long vacation, we didn't see many of the benefits of it because we put him in a lot of situations that were either in some way more stressful or restricted (other people's houses, car and plane trips, the beach). Since we've gotten home, though, he's been very content walking around the house by himself, playing with toys instead of appliances, and more likely to engage his parents or siblings in games than before.
Perhaps most importantly, Nikola is also starting to be a little more affectionate with people other than his mother (the show of affection being less important than what it actually means for his development, but still, I won't mind a hug or two). Until recently, he would give other people hugs or kisses upon Mama's prompting but mostly reserved his most sincere affection for her. I don't know if it's all the new people recently introduced into his life or just the age, but he is starting to be much warmer towards others now. He made fast friends with a couple of fathers of multiple boys on vacation (Uncles Bobo and Lacek) and of course adores his Baka like every other child in her life has. When I came home from work yesterday after having spent most of every day of the last two weeks with him, I saw the most excited face he's ever given me and he came over and gave me two consecutive hugs and kisses. And Veronika, who's been doing her best to be his second mother ever since he was born, picked up a toy for him yesterday and got a warm smile in reward, which seemed to overwhelm her like it did her father.
As I was putting him down tonight—hair combed after his bath, big eyes peering at me from behind his bottle, legs spilling out over the edge of the rocking chair—I realized that I was holding a real armful of a little boy. It reminded me of the little guy that Ivan used to be and how he quickly turned into a pretty awesome toddler after some trying times just before that. It's coming with Nikola too and I can't wait.
Posted by papa at 08:24 PM