(Lucky you! Double posts today!)
Audrey has seemed to learn a new trick. It's a trick that I don't really enjoy, and one I'm trying to discourage. I didn't think I'd have to deal with it this early, but my little Audrey has started throwing fits. I knew she was a drama mama but I guess I underestimated my little girl.
The first fit was completely 100% my fault. We were at a grocery store and walking down the baby aisle. Audrey was in her sling and was reaching for a toy. I thought it was pretty cute she was reaching for it that I grabbed it and handed it to her. I was excited about the thought of it keeping her occupied until we left. Well, as I wrapped up my shopping, I made my way back to the toy aisle to return Audrey's distraction device. I pulled it from her tiny hands and she immediately began screaming. It never occurred to me that she's not used to getting stuff taken away from her but I thought she'd forget about it and stop crying before we got to the checkout. Oh. No. No way. She screamed and cried and arched her back and threw her head around in protest. She wanted that stinkin' toy! I left the store as quickly as I could, embarrassed as ever. Lesson learned - always give her a toy from home.
The second fit happened just this weekend. She's been sitting up with help quite well and HATES her carrier seat so I've been trying to give her opportunities to travel without it. (Sitting in the stroller like a "big girl", carrying her in the Bjorn, etc.) Well I thought I'd try the seat of the shopping cart to see how she liked it. She L-O-V-E-D it. She smiled the entire time we were at the store and she sat up quite well with the seat belt's help. I plan to get one of those shopping cart covers that has the harness on it so she can sit in it better. Well, naturally we weren't going to stay at the store all day so we made our way to the car. The minute I unbuckled that seat belt she looked up at me with a pout. She knew her fun was over. I picked her up and she started squirming, crying, arching her back, and trying her best to avoid her car seat. She did not want to get out of the super fun shopping cart. I drove all the way home listening to Audrey tell me all about how mean I was to end her fun at the store. :)
I'm not sure where Audrey got her 'tude, but I'm so not digging it, man. She's such a happy girl but she'll turn on you quick!
*In an attempt to save this from being a "diss Audrey" post, I'll share a cute little thing she did at the store.*
I was looking for an umbrella stroller at Babies R Us, and Audrey was sitting "big girl style" in her stroller playing with her toy (that I brought from home!!). I was browsing the selection and suddenly hear her "talking." This usually involves a lot of "ah ah ah ah ah"s. I assumed she was talking to me and turned to her to answer and noticed that she had noticed a little boy sitting in his stroller, too. She was talking to him! He responded and after that Audrey wouldn't let him get a word in edge-wise. She talked over him the entire time. His mom and I were laughing so hard at these two just jabbering away at each other in their strollers. They were about the same age and seemed to be having a most engaging conversation! I think Audrey is slowly overcoming her shyness. :)
I think you have some signs of a smarty pants! Most babies at this age do forget toys pretty quickly. Not smarty pants, they remember for far too long. Trust me, I've got my own little smarty pants to deal with.
ReplyDeleteNext time, buy her the TOY! we always did! :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure if this will make you feel better or worse, but I still don't always know how to handle Gareth's fits - and he's 4! But I will tell you one thing we started doing in some situations (like the shopping cart one) that at least helped us stay calm. After our first winter in Indiana we decided to take Gareth out to a nearby trail on the first nice-ish day. He was in heaven after being fairly well cooped up the entire winter. So, of course, when it was time to go he threw a HUGE fit. Ryan thankfully made the comment that Gareth was just showing how much fun he'd had. It really helped in that moment and future ones to reframe his screaming as him communicating (though not in the best way!) how happy the outing had made him. I started to see it as his way of saying "thanks, that was tons of fun!" rather than him being obnoxious and making my life difficult. And, as he learned to talk we've tried to help him learn better ways of communicating such sentiments. Good luck!
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