A whole new boy

 

 

I am completely ecstatic to report that Liam's behavior has done a 180. I wrote a couple of posts about how he was crying all the time, throwing screaming fits, being super clingy and whiney. Well, he was also having a lot of social anxiety that I was really worried about. I used to take him to play groups but he started crying whenever anyone would talk to him or even when I told him where we were going. Also, if we had visitors at our own house he would cry the entire time until they left. I was extremely worried about him because you don't even want to know what kind of stuff the Internet says when you google this kind of behavior. I asked his doctor about it and she thought it sounded typical for a three year old who was adjusting to a new sibling and suggested I just wait it out. Like everything else in parenthood, it was very short lived. He enjoys company again, he is playing with other kids and it doesn't stop there. I remember telling Paul that I wanted my "old Liam" back. My sweet little Liam. Well, I'm never going to get him back. Development only goes forward, never backward with the exception of phases of regression. But the Liam that has emerged from whatever the heck that was is so much more mature and well adjusted than the one that went into it. And he is still very sweet too. He has learned to fall asleep without me laying next to him and has potty trained himself in just the last week. He is trying new things (something the old Liam rarely did). He went on all new rides at Disneyland, even "scary" ones. And has just been surprising us at every turn with his new found confidence. For example, a few days ago, when we were looking at houses, one of the homes had sprinklers on. Liam hates getting squirted. He literally screamed and cried at Disneyland a couple of weeks ago because he got a tiny bit wet while watching a water show. For some reason Liam stood near the sprinklers and started laughing as the water touched him. I was surprised so I just let him do it. After letting his wheels turn for a few seconds he mustered up the courage to run through the lawn. He threw his arms up and had on the most joyful smile. I was so happy for him that I didn't even budge. Paul had to run in the lawn to retrieve him because he couldn't see where he was going with water in his face. The real estate agent probably thought we were nuts as we laughed and applauded his courage but I was so proud of him. I guess you really never know what to expect next. Don't get me wrong, Liam is still three and he definitely has his faults. This won't be the last hurdle we have to conquer. It's just the beginning. But I'm proud to say we have all come out of it better than we were before. And that is what it's all about.