With chattering teeth and bright red hands, Lucy announced that she was cold. Sydney didn't appear to notice the cold and wind - as he enjoys going down the slides at the park, announcing "WEEEEEE!" down the short slide and "BYE!" from the top of the curly slide as he slides down out of sight feet-first on his belly button. BUT since Lucy wanted to leave, Sydney followed without too much fuss.
We came back home to play with toys instead.
Lucy, who normally has been the aggressive one seemed AFRAID of the "new Sydney". Kate commented on his behavior as well, wondering "what happened to Sydney... he was always so quiet, calm and laid back."
Sydney was WILD. Sydney was LOUD. Sydney was.... well, rather obnoxious. He found humor in waving toys in Lucy's face, while she CLEARLY thought it was an invasion of personal space, yelling "NO! No, Sydney, No." and running to Kate's arms for protection from this "wild man".
When he couldn't get close enough to wave things in her face, he thought he would WOO HER by throwing toys AT HER. "No! No, Sydney, No!"
Needless to say, he got a few cool down periods where we talked about his behavior and I clarified that we have to be nice to our friends or else they wont want to come play anymore.
Sydney was SUPER EXCITED when Lucy got to sit on the toilet - using our potty chair insert. Sydney got to look into the toilet and they let HIM FLUSH! That, my friends, was SUPER COOL for him to witness. (After they left, he informed me POOP and ventured to the potty himself where we successfully sat and pushed out.... a bunch of GAS! It's a start, right? We celebrated the GAS, of course and he seemed slightly disappointed to discover NOTHING inside the toilet to flush.)
Sydney woke from his nap in a state of emotional melt-down. He cried and whined and fussed over EVERYTHING!!!! Mike arrived home from work a few minutes later, but by then, despite multiple attempts to calm Sydney and "put out all of the fires so-to-speak", I had already felt the urge to take up drinking.
Once he woke up better (and calmed down) , he turned into the new WILD CHILD once again. Mike and I discussed our plans to interview a local college student on Friday afternoon for a potential babysitter, as well as my embarrassment for her to meet this (now) unruly terror. Then, since Mike's truck had been getting new brakes, etc ($420), I had been without a car so, we were missing at least one ingredient for any of the recipes I was hoping to make for dinner so, I decided to redeem a date coupon from Mike for dinner instead.
"You REALLY THINK we should try to take him to a restaurant when he's acting LIKE THIS?" Mike asked with extreme hesitation.
We went to Olive Garden. Sydney ate VERY WELL, but soon got bored with sitting in the booth's booster seat. So, Mike got him down to go do some PR-work. He immediately started smiling and blowing kisses to a cute college-aged girl two tables away. She returned the air kiss and he caught it, planting it on his cheeks with both hands. "Awwwwww, heart melting into a giant puddle, he caught my kiss!" I heard her announce. He later went over to give her a high five, announcing "FIVE!" On my way out, she commented "He IS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!!"
I thanked her and teased "Yeah, he's pretty shy!" (I had a hard time not saying "You should have seen him an hour ago...")
Somehow, like his daddy, he has a radar for flirting with pretty girls and at 22 months, he seems to REALLY know how to turn on the charm!
After dinner, we picked up the truck, drove to the grocery store for a handful of items and then made our way to the Thursday night STORY TIME at the library since we missed Monday morning this week. We ventured home, put away our groceries and attempted to get our WILD CHILD ready for bed.
Sydney was quickly becoming a monster. He was being sassy. He was mocking what I told him. He was climbing on the babygates and the baby's crib. Then, he started hitting. I firmly informed him "NO, we don't hit! We give hugs and kisses!" (He gave me a GIANT HUG.) As soon as my guard was down, he slapped me across the face. I grabbed his arm, making him try to do it more and more. I restrained him and... well, he laughed hysterically at me, thinking this was all some kind of a joke or fun, new game. (Obviously, he does NOT read emotion well.... as I was actually growing QUITE ANGRY.) After a few minutes, I couldn't take any more. Like a baby hog, I picked him up by his hands & feet and put him in his crib and I left the room.
By then, Mike was getting out of the shower and I announced "I am done. I had to walk away."
Mike dressed and went in to talk to Sydney, asking him "Why are you in your crib? Why is mommy upset?" (Sydney indicated that he was hitting mommy.)
By then, I had dressed in my pajamas and was sitting in our bedroom with tears rolling down my cheeks. It's not that his slap) or uncontrolled laughter HURT me, I couldn't believe how DEFEATED this 22-month old could make me feel. Within a few days, his behavior made me feel as if I was doing EVERYTHING wrong as a parent. I felt like I was somehow just adding FUEL to the fire, despite every attempt to discipline and make things better. I, sadly, recalled the sweet little boy who lived in our house for the past 22 months, 2 weeks and 3 days and wondered WHO this little monster was! I also feared the warnings of "just wait until you have a new baby, too..." knowing good and well that I will be OUTNUMBERED and HOPING DESPERATELY that my MS does NOT flare up post-baby.
At afternoon naptime, I enjoyed a few moments of calm - as I stroked his soft, blonde hair and gazed warmly at Sydney's cute sleeping face as it rested peacefully on my chest. We've been through SO MUCH already... learning (together) how to BE parent and child. Being in my current state of upset and emotional despair, I tried to go back to that "happy place" from earlier in the day, but tears STILL rolled uncontrollably down my cheeks. Mike brought Sydney into our room to see me crying. He explained (to him) that we don't hit, it hurt mommy and he needs to give mommy a hug. With a sad face, Sydney gave me a big hug and patted my shoulders.
After he was in bed, I was anxious to go look at two of the "adult books" I had JUST checked out from the library tonight. One of them is about raising a smart child, which OBVIOUSLY we have one of those on our hands already. (The Parents-As-Teachers representative that comes to our house twice a month indicated that his new behavior may simply indicate that he is BORED when I mentioned his "new" behavioral challenges with the hitting and biting.) The other book is "Stop Second Guessing Yourself: The Toddler Years - a field-tested guide to confident parenting" that I had heard about on the internet.
I probably would have pulled an all-nighter and read them both cover-to-cover if I hadn't felt so emotionally drained from this week's worth of parenting. What an incredible journey...
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