Ruby Slippers and Tantrums

Since Ruby was born two weeks early, Grandma O'Brien changed her vacation plans and hopped on the first plane to California. She came right to the hospital when her flight landed. She spent the next two days visiting the hospital, running errands and getting our house ready (I thought I had two more weeks) for Ruby. On one of her errands, she bought Ruby a pair of shiny red shoes. They were entirely too big but were super cute and have been a decoration in her room ever since. Today I put them on her for the first time. She LOVED them and didn't want me to take them off...even to get dressed. I wasn't in the mood for a tantrum so I played along. Grandma arrived a few minutes later so she finally got to see the Ruby slippers in action.


Speaking of tantrums, Ruby is throwing her share these days. According to Grandma O'Brien, she only does it when I'm around. Lucky me. The tantrums usually only last a few seconds and are at times when Ruby wants to keep doing something but I'm making her stop. For example, she hates to leave the park at dinner time, she doesn't want to get in her stroller after she's been walking around the mall and she is beyond angry when I take my cell phone away. She's too little to understand what's going on and doesn't have words to tell me she's upset. It's not a big deal and, at times, it's even cute that she's stomping her feet or dramatically falling to the floor.

Tonight Adam and I witnessed the tantrum of all tantrums. When I took Ruby into her bedroom to get ready for her bath, she proceeded to take the IKEA stool from her bathroom into her bedroom to sit down (she loves to sit on things like a big girl). I picked her and the stool up to go back to the bathroom and she lost it. I put her in the bathtub and she screamed hysterically and tried to climb out. I worried for a moment that something was wrong so I took her out of the tub. She attempted to push me off the stool so she could sit on it instead. I put her back in the tub. She tried to climb out again. I put the stool in the tub. She lifted it out and tried to climb out again. She was stomping and crying so hard I was worried she would fall in the tub so I got her out again. She grabbed the stool and went to her bedroom...soaking wet and naked. I told her she could sit on the stool for one minute but that it was bath time. After a minute, I picked her up and put her back in the tub but left the stool in her room. She was thoroughly pissed and had no interest in taking a bath at that point. I yelled to Adam to get the S-T-O-O-L out of her room and proceeded with her bedtime routine despite her continued protest. She finally calmed down during "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and actually appeared happy again while she sat like a big girl in her glider for a bedtime story. For once I agree with Adam, IKEA sucks =)