Fussier

Lately, Jada's cranked up her fussy/OCD behavior a notch. When she's
unhappy, everyone without shouting distance will hear about it. She's
less freaked out by leaves, but when she does get freaked out, she
really freaks out. And she absolutely refuses to have anyone touch
her face or put anything on her face, which led to a minor meltdown at
the doctor's office this week when they were trying to measure her
head circumference.

Amy and I attribute all this to the fact that she's growing up: more
aware of what's going on around her, more aware of what she wants, and
thus more aware of how frustrating and messy and fearsome life is.
And this is a good and healthy thing, because life is frustrating and
messy and fearsome. So we're going to try not to freak out when she
freaks out, but rather give her space to get a hold of her situation
and make sure she feels safe and secure.

Parent and pediatricians in the know tell us this is a time when
discipline is so important: make sure she's not hurting herself or
others, ignoring and distracting are two techniques you'll be using a
lot, and save your sharpest tones of voice for when you really need
them. Heard, agreed, understood . . . and, so far, unevenly applied.
Will keep all posted.