I’ve never had a stalker, and so I’m sure it’s actually much scarier and more awful than having an adorable and darling baby who cannot bear to let me out of his sight for 3 seconds.

But it kinda feels like having a stalker. Or maybe paparazzi, only with fewer flashbulbs.

At least it isn’t 100% consistent.

So far, although he no longer delightedly begins playing with a toy at day care the minute I put him down, he hasn’t (so far) gotten upset when I left. He just looks skeptical from the moment we get out of the car until I’m gone.

And if Jill is actively engaged in feeding him something he likes, and he’s not about-to-drop tired, he can even enjoy himself. In the morning, after he’s nursed and changed and is at his most charming, he can even play with Jill while I shower in another room entirely.

But on a bad evening, when he only napped once at school? Cranky-stalker-cranky! Noah’s a cranky-stalker! (Sing those lines in a whiney trochic meter.)

It isn’t his fault. He really needed a nap. So he took one, fooling mommies into thinking he’d gone to sleep for good. The poor guy fell asleep after much frustration and complaint, a forced but fast bath, and no solids for dinner.

After/during nursing, Noah slept for 1.5 hours, then woke up again, fussy, but not ready for it to be bedtime. This, an hour after his usual bedtime. So we fed him dinner and snuggled and he fell back asleep eventually.

But my usual 2 hours of evening stalking were extended into 3.5, with a maybe 30 minute break during which Noah was sleeping in his own bed, not sleeating in my lap. During which time I was also cooking and eating dinner.

Please tell me that this level of Klingonness will not actually last another 6 months to a year.