My Journal - Week 97 (05Jul11)

TANTRUM RECOVERY AFTER MASTER MELTDOWN....

Today we had quite the day.... And in all honestly with Hayleigh's arrival, we've had quite the last two weeks.  I think (rather I knew) at some point Hunter was going to have a complete MASTER-MELTDOWN.  And today was the day.  I was very close to videoing the Meltdown itself, but I decided it would probably not be the best thing to do while he was "engaged" so to speak.  So, after an hour of screaming, (and when I say screaming, that doesn't do it justice...) crying, growling etc., Hunter finally retreated into a more "Hunterish" type of personality.  By midnight, he was back to the Hunter we are more accustomed to.  This is the boy we hadn't seen in over three weeks.  I just hope he's back to himself on a more usual and regular basis... as opposed to the meltdown monster that we have been seeing as of late!!

I suppose it's one of those things where if I had the time to worry about Hunter & Hayleigh's behaviours (having taken them both to YMCA Play to Learn group today) I wouldn't have likely ventured out of the house.  They both were actually wonderful and calm while out today, no screaming while out at the group, no hitting or biting (which as of late had become Hunter's somewhat newer adaptive behaviours to having a permanent visitor called a sister).  All these "good" behaviours lasted until we got home (and with no nap, new things and a SISTER) it was a recipe in the making for a huge disaster.  It was just a mater of time before the bomb blew.  Only, I had no idea that the bomb would be that big - and if anyone want's clarification of exactly how big - or what I mean, just ask one of the three other adults in this household who had the privilege of hearing, seeing (or trying to soothe) Hunter.  After our ride home from playgroup at 5:00 pm - Hunter had fallen asleep but awoke once we arrived home (five minutes away).  I managed to get him back to sleep after about 2 hours of up and down, for a total of one whole hour, when he suddenly awoke, from what I can only guess was a bad dream.   If anyone has ever been woken up after only an hour of sleep when they needed at least eight, you can imagine the mood....  Just add everything else to that and BAM - you have an INSTANT CORE MELTDOWN.   I realized it was going to take some serious Mommy love and our own space (sans Hayleigh) for me to get Hunter to come back down to Earth.  He cried, screamed and literally tantrum-ed so hard that he could hardly breath, much less scream or cry.  Short of him throwing himself down on the floor (for the classic hands and feet banging while having said meltdown) he whipped himself back and forth, flinging his head wildly around, requiring me to just hold him tight, remove him from the area which seemed to provoke more (our play room) and take him away to a more quite location.  After an hour, he finally just melted (to finish the meltdown).  I then literally had to force his milk into his mouth (sounds horrible) because he couldn't stop for even a moment to realize I had his milk for him.  Once he got a taste of it, he calmed down (just enough) to drink it.  We sat holding onto one another for what seemed like an eternity until he was able to tolerate being awake!  At that point it was 9:00 pm.  The reason I have added a video and blog today was because this newer refreshed attitude I was seeing (after the meltdown) was the long lost Hunter I have been missing since we brought little miss Hayleigh home from the hospital.  I just hope that it's a sign that Hunter is starting to cope.  Trust me, whether Hunter is able to verbalize or not, he makes his feeling known.  It's up to us as parents to help him sort through these feelings, frustrations and insecurities.  At least (and I say that with a raised eyebrow) he's calm now and back to a chittery chattery self.  It seems my newest challenge/goal work with Hunter will not be so much about physical milestones, as they will be about emotional ones, and rightly so at this time.

Oh, don't mind the sleepy Daddy, he's been working his usual crazy hours and we are all physically tired and worn out with having a newborn home and sleeping reversed hours!