Sorry I didn't write yesterday. The past couple days I've been in a funk. The kind of funk where I feel exhausted and restless all at the same time. Jack has hit what I only hope is another speed bump in his development. We have gone through this a few times in the past and it usually takes place right before a major milestone. It usually lasts for a couple weeks; we all work through it and then things return back to normal. As I mentioned in a previous entry, Jack has started to display defiant behavior, where everything needs to happen a certain way, otherwise it's the end of the world. For example, when we were playing with his Fisher Price barn, and he was trying to imitate something he learned through watching me "play," as well as though an app called Peek-a-boo Barn, where we put all of the animals into the barn all at once, then say "shhh...goodnight," and the animals drift off to sleep. Instead of putting the animals in their designated places, today he wanted them to all go into the pig sty, which is only big enough to hold up to two animals. When he got to the cow, the third animal he was attempting to stuff into sty and was unsuccessful at getting it to fit inside, he began to get extremely angry. He was in full on tantrum mode; flailing his arms and legs, shaking his head, and he even went as far as to hit Matt out of frustration. We couldn't believe that something so small, could cause such an ordeal. When we tried to explain that the sty wasn't big enough to hold all the animals and redirect him back to the way usually do it, he only grew more upset. When we realized none of our methods were working to calm Jack down, we ultimately decided that it was in his best interest to take a break and recollect himself, so we put him in his designated time-out area, set the timer for one minute, and when the time was up, we told him we loved him and went off to do something else. That is just one of many outbursts that have taken place in the recent days. Jack is an extremely sensitive, emotional and intense little boy. He has been like this since the day he was born and we have always found ways to manage it. Similar to our past encounters, I spend my nights over analyzing the situation and worrying that this behavior could be a sign of something more. I only hope that Jack proves me wrong once again and puts my worries to rest like he has so many times.
As I sit here, racking my brain trying to think of something positive from our day, I am drawing a complete blank. I know that this purely from being over-tired because despite everything we are going through right now, he still manages to make me smile and laugh countless times throughout the day. Wait! I thought of something. Jack was chasing Muffy in circles around the kitchen tonight, she was playing along, he was giggling with joy and it was absolutely adorable. Just thought of another! Matt finally got around to putting the flooring on the landing that splits the upper and lower level of the house, which was last remaining part of the house that needed to be done. As he was working, of course Jack wanted to help. Matt asked me if I would take a few screws out of a piece of plywood that was drilled into the ground. I let Jack hold the top of drill as I removed the screws. When we finished taking all of them out, and the piece of wood was no longer stationary, Jack gathered the screws and by using his hands, he put them back into the holes where they once were. It was fun to see his wheels turning, as well as seeing a sense of pride come across his face, as if he were doing me favor and helping to get things done. Just by mentioning that my spirits are already raised and a big smile has come across my face.
Now I'm gonna go watch the Wild kick some Avalanche butt, eat some Easter chocolate and relax with my hunny. Goodnight.
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