A little bit about Kiefer Doodle.

I still have a ton of stuff I want to post regarding all Cadence has been through before I feel like I've caught up and can start focusing just on the current life events, but since iVillage is down and I was going to copy and paste a bunch of stuff I posted there (yes, I am too lazy to re-type it all), I figured I'd talk a little about my Dood.

Not a typo. Dood is short for Doodle. As in our little Kiefer Doodle. My precious son. What a fricking pain in the ass that kid is! LOL! But I love him so much (duh.). He got that nickname when he was really young, like about 2 months old, maybe. He always used to cry and cry and cry and drove poor Callia, who was just 2 at the time, nuts. She'd ask why the baby was crying and I say, "He's just being a stinker. He's a little stinker doodle." From there, Stinker Doodle became Kiefer Doodle and before long, just Doodle or even Dood. Since Corey loves to call people names (in an endearing fashion), he picked up on this right away and started using it himself. Now, here we are 17 months later and he even answers to Doodle. Kinda funny, huh? I often wonder if when he's 17. I'll still be calling him Doodle. I bet I will. I also bet he's going to hate it. So, of course, I'll just do it more.

Anyway, that little dood is STILL such a stinker!! I guess some things don't change. When he was a baby he was just whiney and clingy. He hit 1 and settled down a little and was even fun to be around. I soon realized he was a joker and enjoyed making us laugh (my Callia often gets so mad when you laugh at her). Corey loves it when he forms his lips almost like into a kiss, but pushes his lips up into his nose. C thinks this is quite funny and laughs so hard, which in turn gets Kiefer going. They have been known to sit on the couch for weeks at a time doing this.

But then something happened. I cut his hair. OK, cut isn't an appropriate word. I buzzed it off. Because I felt like, that's why! And YES, I know I live in New England and YES, I know it gets cold here in the winter. I just wanted to see what it would look like, OK??? Well, I swear he vowed revenge on me that day because ever since I did that, he has become evil Satan child. He hits, pulls hair, bites and scratches. He throws his food on the floor, refuses to eat and literally follows me around as I clean, messing it all back up again. He won't listen, even though I KNOW he understands me and will not go to bed at night. C and I even had to rearrange the furniture in our room earlier this week to fit the baby's crib in so he doesn't bother her with his nighttime shenanigans.

C and I talked about this at length and have decided it's important to be a little bit more patient and understanding with him. I mean, we've always known life must be a little tough for him being the only boy and booted from baby to middle child before he even turned 1, but even still, we couldn't understand why the same tactics used on Callia weren't working with him. Since he's not the baby, C doesn't think of him as one and tends to expect more from him. So, we are trying harder than ever (we've always tried before) to give him lots of extra special attention and make sure he feels loved and special.

It seems to be working. He's starting to come around and while he still walks behind Callia, who is sitting in a chair minding her own business, and pulls her hair for no reason (I try to hide my laughter because, frankly, it's kinda funny to watch unfold), he's not nearly as sinister as he had been even just a week ago.

I think it's because his hair is starting to grow back in.