Recovery

So Ava is still recovering from our trip apparently. She hasn't had a fever since Sunday but she's been sleeping A LOT and only happy for approximately 28.6 minutes after she wakes up and then she's crying again. Yesterday I made a dash to Costco with her for some much needed supplies and she had 5 meltdowns in the 45 minutes we were there. And not her usual "meltdown" which is whining for a few minutes until I make a silly face at her. These were real meltdowns, the kind of screaming where no sound comes out and then it does, in one long long shriek and everyone within a ten aisle radius is wondering if she's just a bratty kid or if I beat her. And all because I wouldn't let her take the eggs out of the carton.

I know it's just because she's worn out from the trip and being sick and after (hopefully) a few more days of sleep her happy self will be back. But the crying is wearing on me. And so in my vast 14 months of parenting experience I've learned two very important tactics for dealing with this. 1) Take time to play with her and especially to play "tickle time". It reminds both of us that we really do like each other. 2) Dress her in cute clothes. Shallow maybe, but we all must admit that a crying child with snot running down her face in a little pink sundress is cute. You focus on the cute pouty mouth and elephant tears and not the snot. While a crying child wearing a dirty shirt and a diaper with snot running down their face is not so cute. You may feel sorry for the kid and but all you can focus on is the snot. And that's also why I like to take the time to look at cute pictures of her, like these from the Thurston Co. Fair while we were in WA . . .

Does anyone else see Audry Hepburn here?

And here's a bonus picture of Ava's cousin Eli. Isn't he adorable?