Today I read some research on the internet about toddlers. Conley has been yelling a lot the past few days. Some of the advice on the internet said to not punish him for it, but two be calm and patient and try to figure out why he might be yelling. I think a punishment, like it's thinking time, is fine if he is yelling for no good reason. But sometimes, he just needs help saying how he feels. His verbal skills are so good, but his emotional skills and even communication skills are still developing. I need to remember that. The article also recommended some things that I'm already trying to do, but it felt good to have more encouragement to do some things. Some of those things include, just snuggling with him everyday. It said how much kids need snuggling and love and actions that show love to them. Also, spending time outside and doing physical activity is so important for them. It said that toddlers need 3 hours a day of that! So today, I tried to wrestle with collymore. And pick him up and throw him on the couch and stuff like that. And even just tickle him more. And I snuggle time whenever I could. It was so fun and wonderful and just made me feel so much love toward him. Something really sweet that happened was we were outside playing, because the weather is getting nicer, and he just loves being outside. And we have new neighbors and as she was pulling out of the driveway, he was pulling down his pants to go pee toward the driveway. And so I had to stop him obviously and say wait till she is gone. And then I turned him to Ward the house so that people wouldn't see his phone. It was just so cute. And as I was telling him to pull his pants down, he pulled his whole pants down and expose his hold on. And I told him that he could keep his underwear on and just pull his penis out. And he looked at me, and said, through this little hole? And I said yes. And then he giggled and said oh! Like, genius! And then he peed. It was so cute. And then later on, he really wanted to play under this big evergreen tree, and I didn't want to stand over there with Eloise. Eventually I just decided to let him win and we sat in the grass, and it worked out just fine. We got to sit in the sun. And a neighbor's cat wandered over, and call me was absolutely infectiously adorable with him. He went right up to the cat and said, hi! Are you a cat? And he petted him and just talked to him and told him what a trash can was and showed him the rocks and showed him the tree. Earlier he had given me a Pinecone and said that it was a ticket to go underneath the tree. Then he told the cat that he had a ticket for him! And the cutest part was at the cat followed him around for a little while, and the cat lay down and just snuggled right back. It made me want to get an animal for Conley. He was so sweet and loving and patient and gentle. He followed the cat around and wanted to go with it everywhere. He was a pretty good listener, though, and didn't go in the street and stuff.
I just want Conley to feel loved and important and strong. Today I told him that real men are kind and listen to others and value other people's opinions. I told him that real men love the Earth and love their bodies no matter what they look like. I want to tell him things like this, so he doesn't feel like he needs to be violent or loud or bossy or aggressive.
