First Tantrum

Dear Sawyer,

Uh-oh. You have been in your "twos" for two months now and I saw the "terrible" part today when you threw your first major tantrum.

I always put you down for a nap around 11:30 in the morning and it's never really an issue because you're usually tired then. But JieJie was home today and you were playing Legos with her and you didn't want to stop to go to sleep. You had to sleep, though, or else you would be super-tired in the afternoon, so I tried to lead you out of JieJie's room. You didn't want to come with me and started crying when I said it was time to nap, so I picked you up and carried you to your room. And that's when you really let me have it. You cried, screamed, threw toys, shook your gate, tried to knock over your fan and even tried to bite me. Excuse me?!? Are we biting now??? I firmly told you not to bite, walked over to the other side of the room and let you cry. After a few minutes, you stopped crying and went and hid behind your dresser. I could hear you taking deep, heavy, post-crying breaths and I walked over to you but when you saw me, you got mad and shouted at me, "No no no!" I said I'd leave you alone but I'd be sitting on the bed if you wanted me. After another minute, you slowly walked out from behind the dresser, stretched your arms out toward me and said meekly, "Mama."

I wrapped you in my arms, you hugged me back and then you looked up at me and smiled--my sweet little baby was back :-)

Love,
Mom