The banshee

Norah has been screaming a lot recently. She's always had a good scream, but for the past week or so, she's really been showing it off. We don't really know why except that it has to do with Mommy, as usual. A few days ago she didn't want to eat dinner and she freaked out. We sent her to her room, where she continued to scream. I was reading to Mia to help her eat (that's what we do these days, and it really helps a lot), so Krys dealt with Norah. She kept trying to come out of room, and Krys kept yelling at her. I think she was a bit surprised that Krys was yelling at her, not because Krys isn't tough with her (she's gotten tougher with her in the past few months) but because she seemed really angry, which is usually my gig. Norah kept shrieking, and finally Mia finished her dinner and Krys came in to hang out with her. I went into Norah's room and sat down on the bed and picked her up. I stroked her hair and talked quietly to her, and she eventually calmed down. We totally switched the "good cop/bad cop" routine on her, and I think she was a bit confused. That'll keep her on her toes!

Today was more of the same. We went out shopping relatively early (around 11.30), so we didn't think she was tired. We went to Target, and she was fine until we tried to leave. Norah freaked out. She wouldn't walk with Krys, but she didn't want to walk with me. I finally picked her up, put my hand over her mouth, and carried her out of the store. We waited outside (in the 100+ degree heat, mind you) until Krys came out with Mia. She finally calmed down in the van on the way home, but later in the afternoon, after her nap, it happened again. Krys had to go back out, and she asked Norah if she wanted to go. When they got outside, Norah started crying. She didn't want to go with Mommy, but she didn't want to go inside. Krys brought her back inside and she went right into her room. I put her gate up and closed the door. She actually climbed over her gate (I didn't know she could do that!), and I got a bit grumpy. I put her back in her room, and she didn't come out again. Instead she chose to take every toy out of her drawers and throw them around the room. Screaming all the time, mind you. I finally went in and calmed her down again. She kept telling me that she was making a mess in her room and that she was screaming her head off. I told her I knew that. But she did calm down!

I think a lot of it has to do with her and Krys, because she's so jealous of Mia. We've had two weeks of strangeness, with our trip to Pennsylvania and then last week, when my mom was here, and now a three-day weekend with Krys home, so I'm really hoping that she gets back to normal now that Mia is going back to summer school and Krys is going back to work. I also think the heat has something to do with it. It's REALLY hot here, and I think, unlike previous years, it's bothering Norah more. It's certainly bothering Mia a lot, and I wonder if Norah is just generally cranky. We'll see.

In the meantime, I hope she stops screaming so much. As you might imagine, it's extremely annoying.