crib monster

I'm surprised ALL.THE.TIME when Eli does something or says something that a regular person would do. He really didn't do much at all for a long time, then he just started acting like a crazy monkey climbing on things and jumping off things that I thought it was more like having a really bad pet then a child... then he started talking and it was more like having a humongous rabid parrot because mostly he would just repeat stuff we said. Now he has started talking and we can actually have real conversations with him and it is blowing my mind.

But with the good always comes the bad and it has been breaking my heart that he will have to start dealing with real people issues. I already get Texas Cheerleader mom mad when some kid on the playground is mean to him, but luckily he doesn't even really notice yet. Last night we heard him start to cry hysterically so we both jumped up and ran in his room and he was sobbing and shaking in Teddy's arms and he couldn't really explain what was wrong. He calmed down and we put him back in bed and then this morning I asked him what had happened and said there was "something scary on the edge of my bed and I was crying." BROKE.MY. HEART. I hate that a tiny little boy can have nightmares, it seems so unfair...(I'm seriously hoping it was a nightmare)

I was reading today on the CDC website about the swine flu and it makes my stomach hurt trying to think of how to explain things like this to him (obviously we are not at that point yet) and how to make sure he isn't scared. That is one thing I remember about my parents is I never believed they took my fears/anxieties seriously and I remember that making me feel stupid and embarrassed and that just made me more anxious. I never want to make Eli feel that way.