tantrum city

little man is really testing his parents with tantrums now a days. he has always had his father's temper and now with more and more independence we are getting more and more tantrums. donovan loves to be outside, and this is where lots of tantrums begin....coming back inside.

i recently "parented" a tantrum that resulted in a neighbor coming out to check and make sure that things were ok. the tantrums start out small with some foot stomping and then they progress to screaming, crying, flinging himself on the floor etc. this scene was disturbing for me. after some research and experimenting between dan and myself our new tactic is to ignore the little dan i mean man until he calms down. although managing the tantrums has become tedious work we do find ourselves chuckling at donovan during these times....now that we have figured out his game. one of donovan's favorite tactics of trying to get his way is to let us know that he is displeased with everything we may offer him. in full tantrum mode if you offer donovan anything he will refuse it even when you know he wants it. we will take something that you know he wants and lay it in the floor in front of him and he will refuse it until he knows no one is looking. if he sees you looking at him while he tries to get it you are back to square one. he will kick it or push it away just to let you know that he wants nothing you are offering him.

typically during his tantrums donovan will take 10 to 15 minutes to calm down and then he will crawl up in your lap. we think he is saying, " sorry, i will try to keep it together now". we have marked it up to all a part of learning....for all of us.

the sweetest sound

donovan is chattering up a storm these days. his chatter makes my heart swell with pride, and also at times makes me want to pop my own ear drums. he has a tendency to repeat things over and over and over and over and over and over, and if i still cannot understand what he wants he begins to cry. although this is frustrating for the both of us the other side of the coin are the words that i can understand, and they are precious.

i think i posted earlier that his first word that he really knew what he was saying was bread. he uses this word lots and it is too cute. he says "bread-n".

the most precious sound i think i may have ever heard is "ma-ma". he just recently has started to say ma-ma when he wants me. my favorite is when he meet me at the door coming home from work and says "ma-ma" with a big smile on his face.

so i guess i will try to keep from popping my own ear drums by reminding myself that practice makes perfect!