Training Lucas

Lucas at 5 months and 3 weeks

When Lucas was only a few weeks old, I remember wishing that he would grow faster. At that time Nathan was six months old and I liked that way he was at that age. It is the stage when they start learning new tricks, when they start becoming very attentive and when they interact and respond when you communicate.

Lucas is turning six months in one week and I can't help but be amazed at how much he has changed. What used to be a rather one-sided relationship between us has now developed into something truly interactive. He now responds to us as if he understands what we are telling him. He smiles back when we cheer him up and he would frown or cry when we scold him. He now reaches his arms when he wants us to pick him up or cuddle him. And he taps our face, head or back--whatever he can reach, when he wants to wake us up.

He now has mood swings too! At times, he would not let anyone touch him but me, other times he would get mad at me and only quiet down when with Charles. We have also started him on solid food and he has started telling us what he likes. We haven't introduced a lot of food variety to him yet but so far, he likes sweet potatoes the most.

What I am not so excited about is training Lucas on things and introducing discipline. For now I just want to give him all the love and attention and not worry about spoiling him. I guess it is easy to do this when you're a parent. Lately, we have let him sleep next to us even after he has already learned how to sleep on his own. And that is because we think we haven't reached the point where we need to start training him.

But now I know that he has almost gone past the stage of being spoil-proof. He is almost at a stage when he will cry not only to communicate his needs, but also to purposely manipulate us or get something that he doesn't need. I was told that as parents we will know how to distinguish between the baby crying for something he needs or crying for something he wants, and it is up to us on how to respond to it knowing that the baby would start seeing a direct relationship between their action and our response.

Now we have to put him back to his crib and leave him alone in his room. We have to start listening closely to how he cries and respond accordingly. We have to endure his screaming and hear him cry out when we know he is just trying to get something he doesn't need. I don't know that I am looking forward to introducing discipline, to establishing patterns and setting limits. But I know it's something we have to deal with at some point and I'm afraid that will have to start soon.