Meltdown & The Lake

I am kind of liking this working part time for someone that lives close to me, b/c I get to do things like going to lunch w/ Nate & Mom at Cheddar’s.  Mom called and said to come meet them at lunch, so I did…b/c I CAN!  I don’t know if we were all super hungry today or what, but the food today was INCREDIBLE!

We SAVORED every single bite b/c it was so good.  I love Nate’s “OOOHHH this is heavenly” face in this picture as he eats his flaky warm croissant covered in honey butter.   He got the ribs (which fell off the bone), Mom got the Asian salad (which had so much flavor that she didn’t even need to put the salad dressing they gave her on it), and I got the chicken tenders (which were so huge that I only ate 3 of the 7 they gave me and was full to the brim).  I love Cheddar’s b/c the portions are huge (we all had some left over, which Dad ate later) and it’s good fresh food and it’s not very expensive at all.

So, today was great up until I went and picked Autumn up from daycare and then it all fell to pieces. She didn’t want to get in her car seat, so I had to practically sit on her to put the seatbelt on. Then, she kept trying to get out of her seat so I had to hold her ankle the whole way home so she would stay seated and be safe. She did not like that and kept crying and saying, “I want to listen now Mama.” That’s a phrase she’s been saying a lot the past few days.

It only got worse when we got home. She refused to get out of the car so I left her in there w/ the door open and came in the house (w/ the door to the garage open) and started making dinner. She stayed out in the garage crying for about 8 minutes until the light went off and then she finally came in. That’s when it got even worse b/c I decided yesterday that it was time to get rid of her bottles (which she only gets when she goes to bed). When she finally came in from the garage she wanted a bah bah but I told her I gave them away to a little baby that needed them. She did NOT like that and freaked out that her bah bahs were gone.

I told her she could have a sippy cup of milk to go lay down in her room with, and she took it from me and then threw it across the room, so I went and picked it up and put it back in the fridge and that made her cry even more (mind you that she’s been crying for about 30 minutes straight now). I got down on her level and told her in a calm voice that she needs to make up her mind if she wants the sippy cup or not and this was her last chance to decide. (She’s been doing that a lot lately…where she says she wants something and I get it for her and then she decides she doesn’t want it and throws a fit. I sure hope this is just a phase she is going through.) She said she wanted the sippy cup so I got it for her and again she threw it across the room. So, she sat in time out for three minutes. I went over and did the Supernanny technique and got down on her level and told her why she was in time out and that she needed to tell me she was sorry and give me a hug.

She did all that, so she got out of time out and I thought she was going to calm down so we could eat dinner when she went off again b/c she wanted her bah bah. I again explained I had given them away and at this point was super frustrated, so I made myself a plate of food and went and sat on the couch and ignored her b/c I had tried everything else I knew how to do. She came over by me and started jumping up and down and screaming. I continued to ignore her when all of a sudden she grabbed a handful of vegetables off my plate and threw them on the floor and then wiped her hands on the couch! I took a deep breath and just closed my eyes so I didn’t lose my temper and picked her up and put her in time out again while I cleaned up the mess.

She stayed in time out for longer than the usual three minutes and I think she finally just wore herself out b/c she had been crying for over 5o minutes. She finally took her sippy and went in her room and laid down for a minute to relax and unwind. Then she came out and was cute as could be. She sat with me and we ate dinner together and then she snuggled up to me on the couch and we watched The Rescuers (her pick).

While we were watching the movie, Dad called and said he & Mom were going to come over b/c they had a surprise for Autumn. I told them she didn’t deserve a surprise tonight, but he said it was a squirrel that they were going to go let go at the lake. And I said it would be good for us to get out, so they came over. This poor little squirrel was so scared and kept running back and forth in the cage.

We got out to the lake and they took the cage over to a nearby field and let the squirrel run off to freedom. I thought this picture was funny b/c Dad’s carrying the cage in one hand and has Autumn slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes on the other side.

Autumn wanted to go back and see if the squirrel was gone. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture b/c of how awesome the sky looks (no photoshopping done to this…it’s SOOC), and that Dad is carrying Autumn as they walk off towards the horizon.

After looking for the squirrel and realizing he was gone, Autumn set her sights towards the lake.

They went down to the lake and Autumn wasn’t too sure about getting close to the water b/c it was really windy and the water was kind of choppy.

She finally warmed up to getting close to the water when Papa went to the edge of it and touched the water to see how cold it was. Then they threw some rocks in and looked for fish (I’m pretty sure they didn’t find any.

Dad found this piece of moss and told me to show it to Autumn & she did NOT like it and kept trying to get away from it. It was so windy that we had to face to the east otherwise the wind was blowing my hair in my face to the point that I couldn’t see.

It was really nice to spend some nice time w/ Autumn especially after her being such a stinker earlier. I really truly hope it’s just a phase she’s going through and that she’ll grow out of it soon and go back to being her usual lovely self. Look at the smile on her face…so sweet.

After letting the squirrel go and playing near the water, we had to stop at Sonic to get a “treat.” This is becoming a fun tradition that I can get on board with (love ya, Brenner). I told Dad that I hope he catches another critter tomorrow that we can take to the lake (so we can stop at Sonic on the way home). Autumn wanted a cone and when they brought it out to the car she started clapping and saying, “YEAH!” The carhop gal thought that was so cute. This ice cream cone was HUGE for just $1! I had to keep licking the sides to keep it from melting. So, today started well, had a horrible middle and then ended on a high note. I guess that’s just the way life goes.