Scream

There are moments when your little darling, your bundle of joy, the reason you have for getting up every morning (lest they scream bloody murder) makes you want to jump off a tall, preferably rocky, cliff. We’re having more and more of those moments in our house. The fact is that we left for Utah with a cute and happy baby, and returned with… well… a toddler who doesn’t toddle. He’s still cute, and occasionally happy, but now he pinches, and hits, and throws things in anger. But the best part of all, the thing that makes me rethink motherhood, the thing that makes me feel like my head is going to explode, is the SCREECH.

Little Guy has almost always been verbally expressive. But for some reason he has decided that it is acceptable to give off a blood-curdling scream out of the blue. I honestly have never heard anything like it from a child, and I’m certain that he has a future in horror films. As I have mentioned, we have one of the most laid-back cats you could ever meet. You can pull her hair (and he does), swing her around (Big Guy has tested this one), and generally tease and taunt her. She heard this scream and ran for the hills!

I love my son and he really is a cute kid, so if any of you have tips on how to stop a 10-month old from exercising his vocal cords in this particular way, let me know. I know it will pass… and there are times when it’s so bizarre an unexpected that it’s quite funny. Usually, though, it sends a chill down my spine and my blood pressure starts to rise and I wonder if it’s too late to exchange him for a different model.