We have at least 4 cable channels dedicated entirely to children's programming. I have stacks of cool kid's videos; Bob the Builder, Bear in the Big Blue House, SpongeBob, Winnie the Pooh...All selected for content and "age appropriate".... Guess what he wants to watch? Shrek2. For 3 days now, it's been Shrek. If I put it up, he climbs up and finds it, if I turn it off, he turns it on. He'll wait patiently for it to rewind, and watch it all over again.... and again.... and again.
NANNA! ANNANNANNNA! NANA! (He can't say orange, therefore all fruit is "anana"). If I give him Banana, he squishes it between his fingers and flings it across the room. If I give him apple, he takes about fifty tiny bites and spits it out all over the floor. Toast goes down between the back of the sofa and the wall, cheese gets pushed into wherever it fits.
At 17 months, he's more like a 2 year old than some two-year-olds I've met! This is really the first "food fight" we've had, in the past, it was usually about one or two things he wouldn't eat. Easy enough to take it out, and re-introduce a few weeks later. This Orange Thing though, is that he won't eat ANYTHING but oranges. Eh, whatever, this too shall pass. As far as nutrition goes, it's not a danger, as he still takes about 16 to 24 oz of "follow up formula" daily, and really likes milk (sometimes I sneak him a dribble of chocolate syrup in it). So far, it the last, well, 17 months, I've learned that just about any "phase" is over with in about two weeks, food phases usually less than that.
We live in a VERY small 1 bedroom apartment, and at first, we shared the bedroom. That soon proved to be counterproductive. It was a combination of factors that led me to re-arrange the apartment.
1, the ex wasnt taking responsibility as a parent, and I had been with baby 24-7 for about 5 months. I was going slightly mad.
2, when we moved in here, it took about 2 weeks to "re train" him to go to sleep on is own in his crib, affording me at least a few hours to relax before I went to bed myself. However, he had grown accustomed to having me no more than 5 feet away at any given time, and was waking up during the night just for the hell of it.
3, I've always been pretty laid back on the parenting front, letting him decide when he's ready for what... but the only way he'd go back to sleep at night was if he had a 'baba"... so out with the baba's and in with the "big boy cups" (standard no-spill insulated sippy cups). Took a while, gradually cutting back the formula and replacing with water.
4, Finally, DingleFritz (the ex) decided to take baby for a whole weekend (for the first time). That weekend I got the bright idea that since it was just Baby and me, what difference did it make how the place was arranged?!
My bed went out into the "livingroom", and all baby's toys and miscellanious crap went into the bedroom. Now both rooms are "childproof" or as close to it as possible. There's a baby gate guarding the kitchen and dining/computer area, thus giving him run of more than half the place, and me a place to escape!
He was a little freaked at first, I had sent the playpen to his dad's and left it there because I was afraid that I would end up with a "boob tube Baby". It used to be the only way I could get him out of my hair at all- stick him in the playpen with some lunch and turn on the tv. Worked like a charm, worked a little too well I think! What with the new boundaries and more space, he wasn't too sure what to do with himself.
Eventually though, he started getting up in the morning and not having me to scream at, he started to PLAY QUIETLY in his crib, and me, being close enough to hear him, but not see... would get a precious 20 or so more minutes in the morning! Having been a 10 hour-a-night sleeper ALL MY LIFE, the long term sleep deprivation of motherhood has been HELL, it seems women pay long after the pains of childbirth, their needs coming a distant second to their children.. for years... Not that I mind, really it's all I ever wanted to be, a Mom. :::sigh::: The only thing I really miss though is SLEEP!"