Toddler Regression

I'm Going to Become a Baby!

As your kid's get older, it's great to see them doing things on their own.

Partly because you no longer need to do those things for them anymore!

Toddler's develop a sense of independence, a feeling of "I'm a big kid" that can do it all by themselves.

All that seems to go away when there's another baby in the house, then they suddenly want to be a baby, too.

While me wife was pregnant with our second kid, my biggest concern was jealousy from our older kid, who was 2 and a half, and therefore two and a half years older.

I was worried that she'd hide the baby in the closet, or under blankets. Then, she'd tell us that there is no baby, that baby went away.

Luckily, none of that happened. She became a super protective Big Sister. She was super excited to help out in any way she could; Getting diapers, toys, and even singing when the baby was crying.

What I wasn't expecting was her regressing from her toddler skills down to baby mode.

Potty Training
Before the baby was born, we were working on potty training. She progressed quite well, and was telling us when she had to pee or poop.

After the baby was born, all that went out the window.  "I need diapers, too!" became her battle cry.  Stickers, praise, and even bribes of gummy bears were used to coax her back to the potty.

After a few months, the bribes of gummy bears did the trick. We're still trying to get her to remember to go poopie in the potty.

Baby steps, I guess.  Or in this case, more like waddles.

Breast Feeding
So, Mommy is spending all her time with this new baby. Mommy feeds the baby every few hours. The baby get's to be with mommy a lot.

"I wanna be with mommy too!"

Our oldest tried to get into the habit of wanting to sit on Mommy's lap whenever it was time to breastfeed the baby. She didn't necessary wanna eat too, she just wanted to sit there and be with the baby.

We broke her of that real quick.  Luckily, my wife's mom was able to come over from Japan. Whenever it was time to feed the baby, Grandma (or Obaasan, for those that are in the know) would take the big girl outside to play, leaving Mommy free to feed the baby in relative peace.

Hold me!
As we carried the baby everywhere, our oldest thought that the baby was getting a free ride.

Well, technically, she was.

My little girl must have been thinking,"This new kid had it pretty good. Everyone picked her up, and carried her everywhere! I wanna be carried too! Screw this walking thing, using your legs is for suckers!"

So that's how it was.  She would run in front of us, throw her hands up, and say, "Pick me up!" She'd sometimes even sit or lay down when she did this.

That made mommy very happy when she did it in the parking garage, or outside.

If there's somebody else to carry her, we sometimes will oblige her request.

Lately, she has become jealous of who gets to ride in the backpack. "I want up too, Daddy!" After a few episodes of this, I've been able to figure out a compromise: Baby goes in the backpack, and the Big Girl goes up on my shoulders.

My wife think's I'm nuts, but she knew what she was getting when she married me.

It's not too heavy or difficult, actually. The pack weighs in at less than 5lbs, plus the baby and whatever gear we brought, which is all on my hips. My hands are free to put the big kid up on my shoulders, and keep her there.

Yeah, I look like Super Dad when walking around like this at the Zoo.

Especially when going uphill.

I Forgot How To Feed Myself!

This is perhaps the most annoying thing that she has forgotten how to do.  Even more annoying than pooping her pants.

At least her pants only get pooped ever couple of days.

Eating however, that's at least 5 times a day!  I swear, she's on a hobbit schedule.

Now that the baby is 9 months old, we are feeding her at the table with a spoon of baby food.  Our oldest is watching us do this, and must be thinking "Huh, look at them put that food in her mouth!  She's got it so easy, here I am using my arms like a sucker!"

To which she then says, "Feed me, Daddy!"

"..." is our usual response.

Sometimes, we just have to remind her how to feed herself.  "Use your spoon!" "Use your Chopsticks, like a big girl!  Show your sister how to do it, she's a baby, she doesn't know!" That sometimes does the trick.

Then there are the times that she's really difficult. Usually, it's in the mornings.  She'll completely forget how to eat her oatmeal or cereal, and it's Daddy's job to shovel it into her mouth. One.  Bite.  At.  A.  Time.

Yay....

Overall, she's doing pretty good as a big sister.  Some regression is to be expected, and she's not too terrible.  She even has her own bed and room (for now), and does an OK job sleeping on her own.  She's even getting better at dressing herself.

I'd say we lucked out with our case of regression.