Thursday, September 8, 2011

Temper Tantrum? I’ve Got Your Number Little Girl.

I’m not writing this to brag. I know I’m very lucky that Sunshine’s temper tantrums are generally minor, and that that could change at any time. I’m writing this because I want to remember these moments. I love when Jen blogs about moments she wants to remember. And how cool is it that I was able to turn my girl’s toddler anger into giggles.

We are totally in temper tantrum territory. She’s right on target with this delightful stage of development. As I said, I’m very lucky that her tantrums are usually transitory, and she’s usually easily distracted (all hail the power of the goldfish cracker). Last night Sunshine had a meltdown when I tried to change her poopy diaper. She is so not ready for potty training. She used to ignore me when I asked her if she had a poopy diaper, now she lies about it.

Shortly after we got home I got a whiff of that telltale aroma. I asked her if she made a poopy. She angrily replied, “NO!” I said, “I smell a poopy. Do you have a poopy in your diaper? “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” And she ran from my bedroom into the kitchen. I followed her to pick her up to change the diaper and she flopped face down on the floor, kicking and yelling, “NOOOOOO!” I looked down at her and calmly said, “I know you’re angry. Go ahead and yell. I’m still going to change your diaper.” This really made her mad. She sat up and raised her hand to hit me. I backed up out of reach and laughed. She got up off the floor and tried to hit me again, although she had a little smile on her face. I backed up some more, then laughed again and turned and ran from the kitchen to the bedroom. She followed me, giggling like crazy. Then let me change her diaper without further outbursts.

And then this morning, she took her sneakers off about 3 minutes after I put them on. I told her I was going to put her in her high chair to brush her hair and put on her sneakers. (Her high chair is the easiest place to contain her to do her hair.) “NOOOOOOO! Again, on the floor. I reached for her to pick her up, as I didn’t have time to let her scream for a while. She sat up and scooted away from me. She wound up sitting against the kitchen wall. I approached her, wiggling my fingers in the universal tickling gesture, saying, “I’m gonna get you!” She starting laughing even before I started tickling. Crisis averted, shoes on, hair brushed, sweater on, ready to leave for daycare and work.

She’s also just started a new phase of, to use an archaic phrase, sounding like a broken record. “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy … hi.” OMG! How long does this last?


This is actually from 3 months ago. She's changed a lot since then, but I thought the photo fit the post. I was trying to take her picture, since she looks so cute in this outfit. She was NOT in the mood.

8 comments:

niobe said...

Aww...those have to be the cutest tantrum stories ever.

AnotherDreamer said...

Aww, how cute :) And great tantrum stories too!

Baby Smiling In Back Seat said...

Clearly it has been a while since you've posted a photo because this is the first time I've seen her really look like Toddler Sunshine instead of Baby Sunshine. Beautiful at every age.

I always think of her as much younger than Burrito and Tamale even though at this age a couple of months (and, with the correction for prematurity, really just a few weeks) barely makes a difference.

One benefit of having a baby who was bald for so long: still no need to do Tamale's hair, and therefore no battles over doing her hair (yet)!

Looking forward to our three running around the park together someday soon -- they've come so far from their meetings last summer!

Heather said...

Oh my gosh, Dora, she is so lovely!! I have to echo Baby Smiling...what fun it is to see her as a toddler! Love the tantrum stories too, and I'm so glad we're not the only ones living in that particular territory! Sunshine is older than my girl K, but it's so nice to know that this stage is completely developmentally appropriate. Well done on the giggles, Mama! :)

Tiara said...

It sounds like you really have so much patience & keeping a sense of humor in the moment works so much better than fighting with her. I hope I can do as well when the tantrums come.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, she is quite the little cutie! I'm with Baby Smiling; I can't seem to process that she's not a baby any more. :)

And I hope I can do as well as you do when Tatoe hits tantrum age!

St Elsewhere said...

Ha Ha Ha...those are moments for keeps....I guess when you have successfully overcome a tantrum, you must be feeling so crisis-averted-y, right?

The picture is good. The outfit is cute, and even though the pic is not recent, it quite fits the mood of the post. :-)

Billy said...

Wow, she has grown so much! And as cute as ever!!
Hope her tantrums stay minor :-) I think I had a glimpse when Butterfly lay flat on the kitchen floor. I am NOT waiting for the real thing (and knowing how stubbern she is, I don't think it will be so easy with us..)