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Weekend wrapup -- snot, screaming, & sleeping through the night

It's been a miserable few days for Cole. He's been filled with snot oozing from his nose that crusts his hair to his forehead when he inevitably wipes his face on something. And, of course, he's been in an overall grumpy mood with odd sleeping schedules and lots of tantrums. The upside is that he's been unusually in the mood to cuddle. Now's the time to get your hugs in if you want them. Because he's not normally an affectionate kid. Kelly and I tease that it's more like he uses adults to achieve his ends then dumps you to the side for independence.

Oh and there has been screaming. More like screeching. The tone of the screeching depends on the mood and desires of the toddler. Sometimes it comes before the "laying on the floor kicking and crying." Sometimes it comes during. Sometimes the screaming isn't angry at all and is more a hilarious war cry of excitement--as in the bathtub last night when he discovered that sitting down quickly creates giant tub waves.

The screaming is what we're finding most difficult though. And not just for the sake of the neighbors. M-F daytime screaming is one thing, but ruining our poor upstairs neighbor's Sunday isn't cool. It's frustrating to be a toddler--I get it. It's actually ended up that I'm a tougher line on the tantrums than Kelly in some ways. I honest to goodness feel badly about the being sick. I never feel sorry for the little guy when he's on the floor enraged. Sooner or later he's got to learn that there are better ways to get what you want. Patience WILL be learned. Words WILL eventually be used.

As for Leda, she turned 4 months old this weekend and continues to be the opposite of her brother. She likes to be held, have her face wiped, sleeps through the night at 4 months, is easy to please, stays quiet for the most part until she is hungry, and is just overall not usually my problem child. For some reason she finds me endlessly amusing, too. Which may be some of the charm is that all I have to do is pop up, say hi, and she smiles right back. Even as a baby, Cole was never that easy to please...though I recall, at the time, thinking that he was the easiest kid in the world. I guess it's always better to have your "difficult" one first?

Of course, this says nothing about when they're 12 and find all interaction with us horrific.