Is this normal?

[JoyNChrist]

Okay, DS (10 months) started doing a few new things, so I just wanted to check to make sure y'all think they're normal (I'm sure they are, but I like to get opinions)...

1) He has discovered his penis, and he's very proud of it. It's great entertainment during diaper changes, and it's his new favorite bath toy. Pretty much any time he's naked, he's got one or both hands on his penis. He pulls on it and stretches it like a balloon animal, and just smiles and laughs. It's kind of funny...just wanted to make sure it's a normal little boy behavior.

(On a side note, when he started doing it in the bathtub one day, I said, "Oh well, he'll probably grow out of it." DH looked at me for a second, then smirked and said "Probably not." ;) )

2) He suddenly can't stand to have things put together or put away. For example, Santa brought the Radio Flyer Walker Wagon for Christmas. When we're not playing with it, we use it to store stuffed animals in DS's room. If we go in the room for any reason, and he sees the wagon full of animals, he has to empty it. He'll play with something else once it's empty, but if anything is in that wagon, he cannot concentrate on anything else until it's emptied. I also got him a little wooden stacking toy for Christmas. He cannot stand to have it put together. If I stack the rings when he's not looking, as soon as he notices it he'll stop whatever he's doing (nursing, playing, etc) to go take it apart, then return to the previous activity. Is this "normal"? Does it mean I'm going to have a messy kid?

3) He's completely boycotting baby food. Won't eat anything unless he can feed it to himself. Consequently, he eats a lot of Gerber wagon wheels and cereal puffs and graham crackers. Normal for this stage of development?

Thanks y'all. I just like to ask because nobody in my family has had a small baby in a long time and most of my friends with kids are more clueless than I am. :)

[egfmba]

I know the "penis as a plaything" is normal. I'm quite surprised he hasn't found it before now (considering how much boys like their toys). By the way, what's the plural of penis?

My boys love their toys. No worries there.

I'd also say the feeding self thing is normal and proper development. Many kids are doing it at this age (and many others are getting there).

As for the clean thing, I'm not sure. Mine couldn't stand to see things out of place unless they were actively playing with them. Come to think of it, DS2 is a wandering mess bomb. By that I mean he walks into a room and anything he sees he takes out and then he walks away. He doesn't have to play with it, though. It's enough that it's out and messy.

Does that help? :)

eva

[HIU8]

DS is 3 and when he is naked one or both hands is attached to his penis (especially in the tub). He has been doing that for at least 2 years. As for your second issue- DS likes to have things put together and have them just so or he cannot function (ie--all the trains on his train table have to be off the track and laying on their side if he is not playing with them). DS is very regimented/methodical/organized/rigid (not sure which is the best to describe, but that is his personality--gets it from my mother).

[deenass]

yeah - they never do grow out of that penis obsession (my oldest knows he can only "play with it" in his room or the bathroom - we had too many incidents where it was whipped out in the kitchen!)

With regard to his "dumping" stage, also normal, my son's OT calls this the "dump and fill" stage - first they learn to pull everything out and then they learn to put it all back.

Self-feeding is also normal - you can take advantage of his willingness to feed himself to expand his food choices (try waffles, pasta, soft veggies or fruits) ... expect A LOT to end up on the floor!

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

Avi also is very into his penis. He is recently P/T and after he goes pee I will give him paper to dry the little drops that did not get into the toilet. He thinks it is the funniest thing to touch the paper softly to his penis.

The self feeding thing is normal as the PP said. You just need to give him lots of opportunities to feed himself, and as the PP said cut anything soft into little pieces for him.

I honestly do not remember about the toy thing and Avi at that age, sorry.

[lisams]

DS (almost 11 months) is the same on almost all of those. He does let me still feed him baby food, just not as much as before. The one issue he has is he hates touching anything sticky (banana pieces, for example) so he waits for me to put them in his mouth for him (what have I started!!).

Anything that is full must be emptied - his book basket, his block tub, stacker, etc. He's very choosy about what he allows in his walker wagon, it's kind of funny. The other day DD put some stuffed animals in it and he got mad, mad, mad. Boy those animals went flying out of there fast!

He discovered his penis a while ago, and I swear it looks like he's going to hurt himself. He'll slap it during diaper changes, twist and turn it, pull it, etc. I'm really surprised it doesn't hurt, but he doesn't seem to mind.

So it all sounds normal to me! Well, as normal as normal gets!

[ellies mom]

Well, other than the penis thing (which is normal by the way), you've described Ellie at that age to a T.

She was never interesting in stacking the rings but the moment I put the rings back on the thing, she couldn't get there fast enough to take them all off. And she was always pulling the rails off her RF walker wagon.

And yeah, she was all about feeding herself, thank you very much. I liked cherrios because they are high in iron. We would steam carrots or apples until they were pretty mushy. She also liked pasta and rice.

[Melanie]

All three sound normal to me. In regards to #1 I used to think, "How can that NOT hurt?!"

[AngelaS]

#1 sounds normal, but since we don't have that body part around here, I'm not sure.

#2 is part of the dump and fill stage. Enjoy!

#3 is totally normal. All my girls switched totally to table food around his age. Enjoy it! No more baby food, one meal for everyone, HURRAY!!

[JBaxter]

Yup he's as normal as they come

[elephantmeg]

except for #1 (which DS is just now starting to play with!) #2 and #3 were Robert to a T! #2 drove me nuts, it's not as bad now (and yes we too have stuffed animals in the radio flyer walker wagon!)

[brittone2]

Very normal :)

DS was well-enamored with his little man parts at that age.

Both of my kids hated spoon feeding entirely. DS took one full jar (and it was a small one) precisely one time. He wasn't into solids until more like 12-15 months, and what food he was interested in was pretty much only finger food.

DD boycotted spoon feeding as well. She's more into solids, but it took until about 11ish months for her to get really interested. She has been exclusively finger feeding for several months now (she's newly 13 months, and has probably been finger feeding since 8-9 months). She's now *very* interested in using utensils. She doesn't like kid-sized ones either. She wants our bowls, our utensils, and she wants to do it by herself.

Sounds like your little guy is right on target.

[LarsMal]

Sounds normal to me!

DD started boycotting baby food around the same time, too. My friend's DD, who is almost 10 months, is starting, too. I finally gave up and DD has been eating all table food for at least 6 weeks now.

Oh the fun!!! Just when you think you've got something down, the go and change on you again!!!

I always say, "It doesn't get easier, it gets 'different'!"

[fortato]

Ok... I've thought about this all day...
I think you need new friends. With the back handed comments about your weight and then them not having a clue about parenting... I think it's time to join a mom's group.

Also, there are some Wicked Awesome parenting books out theah! Try those before asking your friends.

Oh... and Jack went through the whole penis is silly putty thing. It creeped me out.

[JoyNChrist]

Ok... I've thought about this all day...
I think you need new friends. With the back handed comments about your weight and then them not having a clue about parenting... I think it's time to join a mom's group.

I totally agree. Unfortunately I'm always 10 years younger than everyone at the mom's groups I've been to, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I'm tired of being mistaken for a nanny or someone's teenage daughter. And the moms I've met who are closer to my age are mainly young unwed mothers who had unplanned pregnancies and are content to let their moms raise their kids. We don't exactly share the same parenting philosophies. So I'm mostly stuck with groups I'm uncomfortable with, or college buddies (who, wonderful though they are, know absolutely nothing about babies).


Also, there are some Wicked Awesome parenting books out theah! Try those before asking your friends.

Isn't that what y'all are for? ;)


Oh... and Jack went through the whole penis is silly putty thing. It creeped me out.

I know...when DH bathes Avery, he just has this horrified look on his face the whole time. Not hard to imagine what he's thinking. :ROTFLMAO: