Oh, poor Kate. She mostly had a good day playing with her best friend (we were babysitting him all day today). The morning was great. She went down for her nap without an issue for Denis. When she woke up, however…. it was land of the melt down.

Part of it may have to do with Den being home after 5 days away. She was really excited to see him this morning, kicking her feet happily as she gave him a big hug and saying, “Daddy! Daddy!” But minutes later she was asking, “Mama? Mama??” Almost like she had gotten so used to me being there 24/7 that she didn’t want me to leave the room. Unfortunately I had to go to class, so she stayed with daddy. He put her down for her nap – like I said, without an issue.

I was in the middle of something when she woke up, so Den went to get her. And maybe that was just overload for her, thinking I was gone or something. Even after I finished my little project and picked her up she continued sobbing inconsolably. She wasn’t clinging to me or anything – I tried cuddling with her on the recliner and she slid off my lap, pulled on my hand, and burst into a fresh round of tears. We gave her motrin and slowly she calmed down. I had to run to the post office before it closed so I took her with me to prevent another meltdown… which didn’t really work, considering that she was having a mini tantrum at the post office because she did not want to stand in line. Yes, today I was that mother standing in line among all the older folk, holding on to my toddler who is pulling, pulling, then sagging to the ground and kicking her feet. And I just smiled (albeit a little forced) and repeated, “It’s okay baby, we just have to stand in line, just a little longer.”

Miraculously about an hour after she woke up (so an hour after she got the motrin) she was suddenly fine. Ate lunch, ran around with her friend, laughed and played and had fun. So… teeth? Woke up on the wrong side of her crib? Just one of those days? No idea.

Then at bedtime she was really tired quite early, but I got her all changed and we gave her kisses and put her in her crib. She talked for a while in there, which is becoming normal for her. Then… crying. I got her out and discovered a massive poop. Well that’s one way to screw up bedtime! Minutes after getting that all fixed she ran down the hall, slipped, and all I heard was THUMP and loud wailing. I found her laying on her back and assumed she’d landed on the back of her head, but she has a large red mark on her forehead so I’m not really sure what she did. Poor thing, though. It’s horrible when they hurt themselves, I scoop her up and rock her and talk to her and wish I could just wrap a bubble around her to take it away.

Thankfully she calmed down fairly quickly, ate a snack (err, dumped a snack on the floor) and we watched Elmo before trying for bedtime again (this time without any issues or delays!). But man… what a day of opposites!