A hungry-tired-teething-frustrated toddler-monster

Toddlers are this wonderful, crazy dense fog of emotion and it's beautiful and horrible all at the same time.

Yesterday, I picked Linus up from daycare and the daycare lady reported that he had hit a kid in the face and left a red mark.  Yes, my kid is that kid, apparently.  Now, he is a hitter.  I know this.  But, the really hard hitting only comes at certain points when he's both overly-frustrated and overly-tired and overly-hungry, or at least a combination of two of those three things.

I felt horrible.  My kid had smacked poor little Hendrix... probably with a toy, by the looks of the red mark.  Unrelated, how awesome of a name is "Hendrix?"

So, we left daycare after some apologizing, and hopped in the car and the meltdowns commenced!

Mom: Do you want a snack?
Linus:  I WANT IT!  I WANT IT!
Mom:  Can you say, "Snack, please?"
Linus:  I WANT IT!  *screams*  I WANT IT!  *more screams*

The dialog went like that for a little while until Linus was no more demanding, but instead was screaming and crying.  There comes a point when you realize your kid just needs a snack and no amount of ignoring him or demanding politeness will suffice.  So I handed over some animal crackers and a squeeze pack and he quieted down instantly...

... Until we got home.  We got out of the car and he immediately started crying again.  He wanted to be held, but didn't want to be held.  Poor kid.  I hugged him to let him know I was there for him even if he had no idea what he wanted or needed at the time.  Then I shuffled him inside to see if some dinner would help.  And, it sort of did, until the next bout of tantrums began.

Then Jon took him outside to play, and play they did.  They played outside for an hour or two, wandering around the neighborhood with the wagon.  And the second Linus got home, he started crying again.

Diaper change, PJs, and about a half of a book on the couch and he was passed out, with his head leaning on my shoulder.  I carried him up to bed and he didn't even wake up when I put him down.

Poor kid must have had some heck of a day.  Oh yeah, also, he's getting one of his 2nd molars in.  Add that to the list of perils that creates a belligerent kiddo.  Hopefully, Little Linus will have a much better Tuesday.  And, hopefully I don't get to daycare tonight to see that he's taken out more of the little kids.