Goodbye Tummy Time, Hello Boot Camp!!!

So, Shaan had his six month checkup today. I was kinda nervous about it because in addition to his regular immunizations he also received the flu and swine flu shot today...I thought we would be in for a rough afternoon/evening, but I couldn't tell any difference from any other day, surprisingly. Oh, well - guess you never know with babies!

Anyways, the doctor's visit was pretty humorous. For those who have been following my blog, I've been a little concerned because Shaan can't roll over. He's almost 6 and a half months and can't really roll over either way (he's done it only a handful of times over the last couple of months...I definitely cannot get him to do it on-demand...most of the times he just beats the ground, yells, and spins himself around). However, he can sit up on his own for long periods of time (around 30 minutes or so) before he gets bored, tired, etc. and topples over.

So, from everything I've read, babies are supposed to roll over first, then sit up, so I thought I needed to let the pediatrician know. She asked me to put Shaan on his belly at the doctor's office so she could check it out and the minute I put him down he put on his show (screaming, beating the ground, etc.) The pediatrician did a couple of quick checks on him to make sure his muscle tone was fine since he couldn't roll over. She pulled him from a laying position to sitting, then sitting to standing, and did a couple of other things, and determined everything was "A-ok". Now, the entire time she was doing this Shaan was wailing. Literally, the second she gave him back to me he stopped crying and turned and grinned at her.

At which point the pediatrician commented, "Oh my goodness, he just threw a temper tantrum!" Which is no surprise to me...he has been doing this for about a month now, but evidently it's a little early and most kids don't "develop their personality" as she put it until around 9 months or so? So, in her expert opinion Shaan isn't rolling over because he doesn't want to (he gets too mad/won't focus, etc.) and I shouldn't worry about it and can now forgo tummy time (wish I'd known this the last two months as I was putting myself through the tummy time misery every day!) However, since he is now throwing temper tantrums, it's time for "boot camp" and time to set boundaries!

Her advice was to "pick my battles" at this point - i.e. sometimes it's fine to let him have his way, but not in the case of things that are harmful (i.e. trying to grab mommy's hot coffee cup out of her hand, then throwing a tantrum when we don't get it) or things that are "off limits" (i.e. no, Shaan, we can't eat the IPhone, it was very expensive!)

As she was leaving the room and Shaan and I were packing up, her last words to me were..."He really is so cute, but boy are you going to have your hands full!"

Don't I know it??

Let the fun begin.... :)