Well, yesterday was the big day of Thomas that wasn't. We were supposed to go see Thomas the Tank Engine, and J was excited about going to see Thomas all day Saturday - he'd tell people he was going to ride on big Thomas. We all went yesterday - me, J and K. J was excited yesterday morning, bouncing and squirming in the backseat and talking about big Thomas. He was happy when we put him into the stroller - up until we were just about out of the parking lot. Then he suddenly started just howling and sobbing, saying he wanted to go home. We hadn't even seen Thomas at this point, so it wasn't like he got freaked out by Thomas being life-sized. But he was having none of any of it - said he didn't want to ride big Thomas, didn't want to have his picture made, he wanted to go home. At one point K and I took him out of the stroller, and he was just about ready to run out in traffic to get back to the car, that's how much he didn't want to go. He never wavered, so it wasn't like he was going back and forth between wanting to go and not wanting to go. He just DIDN'T WANT to go. So we decided there was no point in forcing it, no point in dragging J in screaming like a banshee. We drove by the depot on our way out, and J got to see Thomas - he still said he didn't want to ride, he wanted to go home. He was greatly cheered by the prospect of a trip to Target and eating at IHOP, though - K asked him if he wanted to go to IHOP and have eggs and pancakes, and J said, "And bacon!" So I'm not sure what caused it, but he was not interested in the day out with Thomas. Oh well, maybe next year. It was pretty funny, all the other kids were going in in their strollers happy as larks at the prospect of riding the train, and J was screaming like he was being dipped in boiling oil. At least it was a nice day for a drive in the car.
And the meltdown fun continued. We went to Target, that was fine. Went out for Mexican for lunch - J loved it, he ate the hot sauce with a spoon, like it was soup. Then we went to Toys R Us, because they have a lot of the Thomas wooden railway stuff. And there J went into indecisive toddler mode. He wanted Elizabeth, the quarry truck - then, "I no like her, I want Diesel 10." Got Diesel 10 - "I no like him." Finally he settled on Lady and the Sodor fire trucks, and K and I picked out a wooden railway starter set. Then J saw a train table set up, and nearly lost his mind - he *had* to get out of the buggy and play with it, and he declared he wanted one of his own (I'm thinking birthday). Then on the way out, he started crying when we had to wait in line - he was insistent that we pay for our things and go RIGHT NOW.
And once we got home, he played with his new toys just fine for a while. Then he wanted Diesel 10 and the quarry truck, and I explained to him that we'd left them at the store, we could get them the next time we went. TOTAL fit. J ran for the garage door, screaming that he wanted Diesel 10, wanted in mama's truck, wanted to put his shoes on RIGHT NOW. Finally I told him we weren't going, end of story, we could get the train next time we went, and he could just sit there and scream until it was out of his system, because we weren't going back to the store today. And eventually he gave it up and went on with his afternoon. But ugh, that was tiring.
J has apparently picked up a new word at daycare. He came home on Friday and announced, "He's a poopyhead!" I asked him who was, and he said, "Austin - he bit me." I then asked him who he heard "poopyhead" from, and he said, "Manuel." Big surprise there. But he said that word all night long, despite being told repeatedly that it wasn't nice to call someone that. I decided to just ignore it, figuring that the more I freaked out over it, the more likely he was to say it, just for my reaction. Seems to have worked - we didn't hear "poopyhead" at all yesterday. (This after he said last night, "Poopyhead's in the bed", and I pointed out to him that he was the only one in the bed, so who's the poopyhead? ) No, we got a new phrase last night. J dropped a toy, and promptly said, "Oh, crap." Then he said it again - and again, and again. "Oh, crap, oh, crap, oh, crap." I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. It just sounded so funny coming from him. And there again, I figure if I make a big deal about it being a "bad" word at this point, he'll keep saying it for the reaction. I'm just glad it wasn't anything worse than "crap" - you try not to slip up in front of your kids, but sometimes those words you don't want them to learn quite yet pop out.
He lost his voice yesterday. I'm not sure if he's getting sick again (can't remember if I wrote, he had a round with virus and sinus a couple of weeks back), or if it's just from all the howling he did, or what. He was starting to snot up this morning. I hope he doesn't have a cold.
And I was afraid we were going to have a bad time of it this morning. We got to daycare and I said, "yay, school!" J said, "Stop it, mama, I no like it." Huh? He said, "I want to go home," with that whiny tone in his voice that told me he was about three seconds from full-out tantrum. I told him no, mama had to go to work. Again, "I want to go home." I said, I know you do, baby, but we've talked about this - mama has to go to work, but I'll be back this afternoon to pick you up, and what happens then? "Mama gives J hugs and kisses!" I said, that's right, hugs and kisses. Then he started contemplating what they might have on TV in the gym, and he was much more excited about going then. So it turned out to be all right.
Which is good, because otherwise it's a tired and grumpy day. Traffic was hideous this morning - three wrecks on my way in, two of which were on the alternate route I took to avoid the first wreck (a biggie, with a 45-minute backup). So it was almost 9:00 before I made it here. How I wish I could telecommute.
I'd better get back to work. More later.
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