It is precisely because of this that I have avoided writing any posts lately.
I have been frustrated and have been unable to see a way to spin it for entertainment value. So what have I done? I've decided that I need to just get my thoughts out of my head so that I can make room for funny
anecdotes again.
Harper has been making me insane as of late.
Let me back up. I don't know where my left post ended and I'm WAY too lazy to go and check, so as a quick rehash, let me say that once school let out, I've been home with the girls. I've been keeping Brynn with me almost every day, unless she's being taken care of by her aunt or grandmother. Harper, I have been sending to day care twice a week in order to get some things done around the house and to keep her socialized with other kids.
When Harper is home, I have been trying to take them out as much as possible. Errands and road trips are a bit ungainly as Harper likes to scream and cry every time I put her in a car seat. Instead, we go for walks. I found a coffee/breakfast sandwich place that's about a mile and a half from the house over the hills of the town so I'll put them in the stroller and we'll go there and back.
There have also been a few times when I strapped Harper into the backpack carrier and pushed Brynn in the stroller and we walked on the trail.
When Harper is at day care or with a relative, I can do pretty much whatever I want/need to do. Brynn is still at the stage where she's content to sit in the car seat and watch what's going on. With her alone, I've been able to go to lunch with friends, work on the wall, run errands or just waste the day watching movies or playing video games.
I think it is because she's so easy to take care of that my frustration level with Harper has increased drastically.
I've spoken before about she doesn't really want to play with her toys, but only wants the power tools. She only wants to destroy things that we need, like my car registration. She'll stand in the kitchen and point to something and make a sound like a wounded animal. When we point to things that she might be wanting and say "Do you want this?" she screams and throws tantrums, regardless of whether or not that was the thing she wanted. The other alternative is that she'll ask for something clearly, agree that's what she wants and then, as soon as it comes into her hands, she freaks out and throws it away.
Last night, while I was on the phone with Verizon Customer "Service" she stood at my feet and screamed. When I went to another room, she followed me and screamed. When I went to pick her up, she thrashed until I put her back down.
I understand that there is a level of frustration on her side as well. She knows what she wants to be doing and simply does not have the vocabulary to communicate the way she wants. There is a huge gap between what she wants to be telling us and what we want to be communicating to her. For the most part, she understands us. We can tell her to put her clothes in her hamper, and she will. We can tell her to go find her shoes, or a diaper, and she will.
Last week, after telling her that she cannot hit her sister, I told her to go and say sorry and she did. It just about broke out hearts, but she knew she had done something wrong, said sorry and walked into her room to go to bed. I rocked her to sleep and told her how much I loved her and how proud I was that she said sorry and how I know she loves her sister, she just can't play as rough.
As I said before, I've been trying to keep this light and positive, but these are things that I need to get off of my chest. I also feel very bad that I don't talk about Brynn much. I don't want her to get second child syndrome and I spend a large quantity of time with her, but at this point, it comes down to one simple thing. She just isn't doing much. She's unbearably cute and has a very good-nature. She sleeps pretty well, eats pretty well and is easy to take care of.
Here are some pictures with a few clever captions.
Neon Swing X-Perience owes me endorsement money
"Why-I-Otta...!"
Go to my happy place...
"Noooo, Mr. Bond! I expect you to die!!"
Having to deal with me, my ladies need a nap.
