Outings

Outings are what keep us going around here. Parker requires CONSTANT stimulation and activity, and I do my best to keep up with his energy level. 

Yesterday we went to the children's museum downtown. It was... fine. Kind of weird, to be honest. All the exhibits were based around modern art/recyclables/etc... It was a little too out there for my taste, and we much prefer the smaller museum we went to last month. But at least we tried. 

Parker spinning on a funny shaped chair. 

 Climbing tires to go down a slide. Boy can this guy climb! It's crazy how agile he is.

 And reading inside of an odd abstract art fixture...

 And today we went to the zoo. This is when we first arrived. Happy parker!

At the end of our visit, he started to lose it. I saw it coming but it seemed like there was nothing I could do to curb the storm that was brewing... he absolutely lost his mind. Thankfully my friend Autumn was there to help me with the stroller, otherwise we wouldn't have made it to the car. I'm not exactly sure what the tantrum was about... the stamp on the wrong hand, wanting to see more animals... he was yelling a lot of things but none of them really made sense (or were understandable). As I carried him out (he had to be removed from the stroller as he was trying to hurt Austin), he was pulling every stunt... kicking, screaming, pulling my hair, hitting... it was awful. But somehow I felt very calm and detached from the situation. And even though he was flailing all over the place, he also felt very light weight and I felt in complete control of holding him. Strange. And I never raised my voice. I kept calm and quiet the whole time. Perhaps that was because Autumn was feet away watching this unfold:) Thanks for keeping me calm Autumn!

Anyway, we got to the car and I could barely get him in his seat. Then the ride home was rough, because he kept taking away Austin's bottle from him and hucking it at my head. In addition, he was reaching over trying to pull Austin's arm. I do NOT tolerate him targeting Austin. Nothing makes me madder than that. Eventually he calmed down and then very calmly talked to me about why he was so upset and that it made him sad and he wouldn't do it again. I seriously don't know what to do, because here I am trying to do something fun that is centered around him and yet he still acts out like this. We can't just stay home because he goes stir crazy and so do I. I know it's the age of impulsivity, but am I really going to be homebound during this phase because of his frequent outbursts and lack of listening?

When I posted the other day about my struggles with Park. I got a lot of positive feedback about being honest, because others can identify. So here you go.. identify with this... please... I beg you!