Life As We Know It
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Thursday, July 19, 2001
Call the Guinness Book of World Records! We have the World's Loudest Screamer!!! A little while ago, I heard the loudest sound I have ever heard made by another human. It was the sound of Kyle screaming when I placed him on the changing table to change his dirty diaper. It was so loud I jumped and my ears started ringing, as if I were standing next to the speakers at a rock concert! I don't think it was the diaper change he objected to so much as the fact that I was doing that instead of what HE wanted me to do...which, in this case, was apparently to nurse him to sleep, even though it hadn't been that long since he'd nursed OR slept. But he must have been really tired because after nursing, he was out so soundly that he didn't really stir when I moved him to his crib...a lot of times that move wakes him up so much it kills the whole idea of a nap. But only moments before, he had been playing and just starting to get a little cranky--he jumps up a few levels of intensity without warning!!! He did the same thing to Mark last night, also when Mark tried to change his diaper before bed, though he usually has no problem with diaper changes. I guess when he wants sleep, he wants it NOW!!!!!!!
Ryan, meanwhile, has become a bit of a tyrant with his make-believe, having mini-tantrums if we don't do things his way...like using the "door" to the "doghouse" when we go to the restroom. (The door being pillows he has set up, and the doghouse being the area in front of the restroom.) He also wants to do nearly everything himself, but then won't do it or is very slow doing it, and cries if we hurry him or have to do it ourselves. And when we start to say something he doesn't like, he is likely to shriek, "No, I were talking about a different game!" It's as if he's just hitting the worst of the "terrible twos" when he is nearly three! He also wants to put his own clothes on, and take them off--sometimes at inconvenient times! I put him down for a nap at 2:00 and thought he went to sleep, but when I checked on him nearly half an hour later he was running around in his room with only his pull-up on...and it was dirty. Sigh! Can you tell this has been "one of those days"?! And I hadn't even mentioned yet that our Saturn isn't working right and needs to go into the shop (hopefully just needs a tune-up? AND new tires), so Mark has the van today and I'm without a car.... Ryan also had a crazy dental incident last week, leading to his first dentist's visit. He actually scraped his teeth up and down on a metal window frame over & over until his bottom teeth turned silver! We weren't sure if he had damaged the structure of the teeth or not. We managed to get him in to see a pediatric dentist the next day, who cleaned the teeth with a mild abrasive and still couldn't get it all off... but he said it was just trace aluminum that should come off eventually with saliva! (And it has come off by now, thank goodness.) The dentist also did a spot cleaning of a few of Ryan's teeth, and said that he had no cavities. Ryan did remarkably well, curious enough about going to the dentist that he didn't seem to mind the process at all, not even the dental pick or the abrasive cleaner. He even tried to talk pleasantly to the dentist while all the instruments were in his mouth. Kyle also had a bad week that week, screaming most of the day for 3 days straight... (did I mention this child is intense?). And on one of those days, he must have nursed 15 times! I am hoping it was a growth spurt. But whatever it was, he got over it and was happy as a clam for the next few days. He is a baby of extremes, going way up with joy or way down with crankiness, and does most things with gusto (well, except for eating solid foods). Honestly, though, he is happy more often than he is upset, and when he is happy he can just radiate joy!
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