Casey's mom

by Angi
(Ohio)

My son refused to wear shoes when he was only 10 months old. He was able to wear socks until he was 12 months but then his daycare required shoes with a sole on them. He would scream and refuse to stand up it was a nightmare. We finally found some shoes called Skidders which look like socks with a black rubber sole that we were able to get him to wear by putting on and immediately going outside for just a few minutes at a time. We made it a rule that you couldn't go outside (his favorite place to be)unless you had on shoes.We then graduated to canvas Converse shoes with no socks and finally at 17 months he is wearing his first pair of "real" shoes with socks. He actually seems to be fascinated with shoes now and tries to wear the entire families shoes around the house (he loves my daughters cowboy boots). Now he refuses to wear socks without shoes though.

He was also a screamer with the bath, he honestly had a lot of sponge baths because he was so terrified of taking a bath. One day his 8 yr old brother asked to get in the tub with him and he stayed in the tub. After that I got in the tub, clothes and all, with him a few times. Now he takes a bath without complaining. His baths are short and he does not like water being splashed on him he now tolerates the soap bubbles, they used to make him scream also. He hates being dried off though. I wrap a towel around him and say "awww look at mommies baby" in the mirror to get most of the water off and then he is yanking the towel off.

When he was younger he would scream when his dad and brother would wrestle and still does sometimes but now he likes to join in. He hates stuff like shaving cream or whipped cream refuses to touch it. His dad tried to give him a dandelion and he kept backing away saying no, no. Yesterday he cried the whole way home from daycare, I couldn't figure out why, when we got home he kept showing me his finger, finally I saw a purple marker mark on his thumb asked if he wanted it off he said yes. After I washed his thumb he stopped crying and was very happy. It can get so frustrating cause he can just have a meltdown at any moment and he is still not very verbal so it takes a while to figure out what he is upset about this time. But when he is happy he is very happy and I love to hear his giggle. Oh and he hates sweat pants with elastic in the ankles, he will cry and cry because they get stuck up his legs and we are constantly having to pull them down. He loves to be naked he is always trying to take his clothes and diaper off. When he gets them off it is almost impossible to get them back on! He will scream and fight you forever. He does seem to outgrow these things eventually so Im hopeful he will continue to do so.