Sweet Dreams

T had one of those days today. You know, the kind that reminds me very vividly that he is quickly approaching the stage in life coined "The Terrible Twos". Although he and I spent a fun couple of hours with Mrs. Tricia and N at the pool, T fell apart on our way home from this pleasant event. You see, he was devastated when we dropped off Mrs. Tricia without popping in to greet Stew and Sam. And when I say devastated, I mean utterly and completely devastated. He screamed and wailed the entire way home. Because he was so out of control, T did not get to perform one of his new favorite tasks - pushing the button on the garage door opener to magically open the door. A natural consequence for his attitude, I thought. This, of course, did not bode well for our now irate toddler so, once he was released from his car seat, he proceeded to add feet stomping to his vocal protest. The scene was one of those rare but troubling moments I have experienced during my stint of motherhood when I look at T and think to myself, "Who's child is this?". I picked T up from the garage floor and plopped him in the entryway, still kicking and screaming. Without a word, I then retreated back into the garage to unload our belongings, thus leaving M (who had not joined us at the pool) to wonder what in the world had happened to our sweet, calm T. Lunch time was less than pleasant, but we muddled through and then I placed a worn out T into his crib for some much needed sleep. When I went to check on him a little while later, this is what I found.

If you look closely, you will see that T is holding a smiley face bouncy ball. I had not realized that T brought this little green friend to bed with him and I promise you, I did not stage it in his hand. The little smile could not have been in more direct contradiction to the 60 minutes that had just passed and so the irony of it all brought a smile to my face. Perhaps T was as worn out by his antics as his bedraggled mom was and so he brought this smiley pal to nap time hoping for a sweeter disposition upon waking. Let's hope so. Sweet dreams, T. Sweet dreams.