Tantrums

Normally, my Mommy writes these posts through my eyes, today Mommy is narrator:

Rylee Margaret was an EASY baby in many ways. Of course, sleep wasn't perfect, and there were some bumps in the road with breast feeding, but overall she was a joy to be around. Happy, no major illnesses and hardly any tantrums. She seemed to have a bit of seasonal disorder in the late Fall and early Winter, because every year she has trouble sleeping at that time. We had to do cry it out every early spring, because she would need to sleep with us for any of us to get sleep. That stubbornness exhibited in her fits in her crib were precursors to what we have been going through with our little 4 year princess since Ella was born. She LOVES her sister and NEVER really acts out towards Ella, but it comes out in many other ways lately.

Transitions ARE THE MOST DIFFICULT times lately: Getting dressed, tub time, and cleaning up, leaving a fun place, etc..... are the times when she goes ballistic. She had a 2 month spell of this in May and June of 2010 and she has been tantrum-ing at least once a day for about a month and half recently. We have tried time outs, sticker charts, spanking, taking away toys, etc... Things are better this week, but nothing really seems to work when she is in this mode.

Also, she has developed HUGE fears / phobias around her booboos and stairs. She fell down one stair in early February, which until recently, I had forgotten about, and ever since that she is EXTREMELY afraid of stairs again. The "boo-boo" from that minor fall was virtually non-existent. She spends much of her time asking for band-aids and obsessing over lines in her hands, saying that they are booboos.

Next Tuesday, we are taking her to Dr. W for a behavior appointment to address these major tantrums over minor issues to find out what we should be doing.

When she isn't tantruming, she is an amazing little girl, with an awesome imagination. I feel as if I spend much of my day negotiating with a four year old, instead of playing and enjoying our time together. Hopefully we will all find happier moments soon.