The wonder of it all

I've been awfully cranky the past few days. I woke up at 12:30 AM last night (this morning?) and cried and screamed until Mama finally gave me the milk-drug at 2 AM. I also woke up crying and screaming at daycare, and again when Mama was taking me for a walk with Oliver and his mom. I didn't want to eat my dinner (I'm not so sure about this avocado thing) and I haven't been nursing very well. Basically, I'm all out of sorts.

Mama has been trying to figure out what's going on (Am I teething? Did I hurt myself? Do I have a fever? Am I having digestive issues? Is my acid reflux flaring?) and then she remembered the last time this happened. That was when I was 19 weeks old (based on my due date rather than my birth date), which is one of the "wonder weeks" she's read about in one of her many books.

As I've mentioned before, a "wonder week" is an inappropriately upbeat name for a developmental spurt. Basically, we babies get cranky and fussy because we're working so hard to achieve some new skill set. These wonder weeks tend to happen around the same times for each baby, and so far I've been following the schedule pretty closely.

So now that I'm Fussy McCrankyPants again, Mama got out her book and looked up the next wonder week. Not surprisingly, it happens at 26 weeks...and I am exactly 26 weeks and 2 days old (gestationally). Apparently, I'm struggling with the idea of "relationships" right now and learning that I am separate from Mama and I can't control where she goes or whether she leaves me. It's supposed to make me clingier and more wary of strangers, but I don't think I'm being needy or impolite. Unless you count screaming at the top of my lungs until Mama holds me (you should have seen her trying to carry me in one arm while pushing my empty stroller down the Burke Gilman trail today -- go Mama!).

Wait a second. Mama can leave me behind? I can't control what she does and where she goes?? What?!?