Hysterics

Hmm, well we've had two days that i wouldn't necessarily count as good in a row. Hopefully that means that tomorrow will break the cycle.

Yesterday i picked Henry up and we headed to swimming until i realized i had forgotten to pack his swimsuit. I had everything else, swim diapers, towels, MY suit, even snacks and milk for after swimming but no suit. So, we just headed to the grocery store and picked up some things for the shower i'm helping throw on Saturday. Henry didn't seem particularly nonplussed one way or the other but i was surprised at how disappointed i was.

Today we had therapy in the morning and i was worried it was going to be a terrible session, because Henry was really ornery this morning-- very non-cooperative and lots of screaming. But amazingly it was probably our best day yet. He did really well with everything and didn't freak out once. We're supposed to encourage his running and bouncing because she's really satisfied with his stair-climbing ability.

Tonight when i picked him up from Brenda's he was one ball of hysteria from the time i picked him up until after i put him to bed (and beyond). I had snacks in the car for the ride home which was great for about 15 minutes but when they ran out and he started asking for milk he was inconsolable that we didn't have any. JT is working late today so we stopped off at our local taco place to pick up some dinner on the way home. While we were in there waiting for our order Henry actually did one of those tantrums you see in the cartoons where he laid face down (yuck!) on the restaurant floor and kicked and beat his fists. I'm still not even sure what that outburst was about (maybe the milk still?)

When we got home i got Henry some milk and another snack really quickly but by then it didn't matter what i did he just kept screaming and crying and generally being upset. It didn't help that i thought i had lost my wallet somewhere between the restaurant (3 blocks away) and home. I decided to just scoop Henry up sit on the couch with him and his milk and just cuddle. Good idea but that also elicited screaming. I finally tamed the beast by repeating but also putting on his signing video. He calmed down enough for us to watch some of his video and then go eat dinner. After that he wouldn't let me out of his sight or he would be screaming and crying.

We passed the evening in this fashion and i put him down early for bed thinking he must be really tired. Up until 15 minutes ago, he was up crying every 20 minutes or so. He finally got really upset and i told him it was time to go to sleep and that i would see him in the morning. He screamed bloody murder for about a minute and has now been quiet. I have a very bad headache.

I'll ask Brenda how he's been there but i get the sense he's testing out these new "tantrum" behaviors more than he's really upset about something. He was rarely really crying-- and sometimes while screaming he was making the "fake crying" face. So, he's probably just testing me but tonight was a hard time for the pop-quiz.

I'm giving him a few more minutes and if he's still quiet i'm going to take a bath...