2.01.2010

the twentieth

The past month has been loud at our house. Really loud. I mean REALLY LOUD. For some reason they have decided to shriek. They shriek often. Too often. Imagine Mariah Carey off-key. Tone def or not, it is a nightmare.  They shriek as they sit in their highchairs waiting for food or some kind of entertainment while they snack. They shriek if they are left in their chairs 14 seconds longer than they feel is necessary. Let me be honest, it.is.horrible. Horrible. And yes, all those out there that are judging, hold your tongues. We have done the give them a toy to play with or chew on. We have tried the Ferber Method letting them cry it out. With one baby, okay, it is tolerable. But two....unless you have been here, keep your judgy-mc-judgerson comments to your self. Smile. Okay enough soap box....

Anyhow the shrieks are horrid. Their tiny feet navigating the floor as they shuffle from one piece of furniture to the next is precious. Their eyes as they play with each other and their big sister are magical. Hopefully the shrieks are just a stage, but something tells me it could be another case of Karma...enough already.

They finally sprouted front teeth. Two each on the bottom row. Now when they smile you catch a glimpse of tiny white tips. Makes up for the headaches we get from the shrieks.

She will be three soon. Three going on thirteen. I cringe when she tells me "Mom, don't worry."
After she has spilled her milk.
And "I'm busy."
When I ask her to come eat dinner.
It is going to be a long road.

And we are SO lucky that she shrieks too. She has taken up shrieking as she reluctantly scampers to the bathroom (still not potty trained. That's a whole different post). Then sometimes when she is being a real peach, she shrieks at you while she is going potty. She shrieks at you to leave. Then when you leave she shrieks for you to come back. Let me tell you, it takes all my energy to hold myself together. And while a kind reminder that shrieking is not necessary or allowed only escalates the issue, staying silent hasn't always been the answer either. She just shrieks until you respond. Yes, child rearing is so much fun.

Of course after going potty on the toilet (bravo), pulling up her own pants (bravo) and washing her hands (double bravo) she switches the dreadful child switch to wonderful and plays with her brothers. The laughter and giggles can be heard from all corners of the house. Every once and a while I catch myself thinking "Oh, maybe one more wouldn't be so bad..."
Can you hear my shrieks?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

well done again! and i love that JOESPH's child is not potty trained, because i still remember (so clearly)him reaming me that T should have been done at 10 months... and he was SO serious. makes me smile, sorry cause it's really at your expense... tell him to give me a call if he needs any advice ;)

Anonymous said...

Maybe their practicing... maybe music would help. And not the cheesy stuff Joesph likes. What about musicals. That might be even more fun to you. Going back to those goodies we used to sing when we were kids is a blast. And singing might help drown out the shrieks perhaps help them tune... Demi might like them too. --- Nini