The Night of the Whirling Dervish

Yesterday afternoon I rounded the corner and peered into the infant room at daycare. There sitting on a mat surrounded by a few other babies and a Day Care worker was Libby Doodle Doo. She was intently chewing on a toy and it took a moment until she spied me. Once our eyes met, a big smile burst onto her face as she lifted up both arms for me to come over and pick her up.

The Day Care staff gave me an A+ report on the Doodle's first day– no crying; ate a lot; slept well, played quietly. They told me that Little Zo Peep (at the center because her school was closed for Prez. Day) came to the infant room at lunch time and positioned a chair on the other side of the gate leading into the room. Zo Peep sat there and watched her sister as she ate her lunch. (what an attentive big sister). During the time that Zo Peep was there, Miss Libby Doodle Doo "talked" incessantly to her older sister in her booming baritone voice. When Zo Peep was gone, the Libster did not make a sound.

And then we got home.

It was as if Libby Doodle Doo was on her best orphanage behavior all day and needed to and wanted to let go as soon as she was back in familiar surroundings. Or maybe the Day Care workers fed her sugar-coated caffeine pills non-stop all day.

All I can say is that last night Libby Doodle Doo was a whirlwind of unbridled energy combined with a side order of a prickly funk. In summary, she was INSANE.

She babbled non stop and seemed to be barking orders to anyone who came near her. She seemed as if she was famished – yet hardly ate anything. The Doodle wanted all the food we offered her and then quickly threw it to the floor or pounded it with her sippy cup. She refused any food that was presented to her on a spoon – she wanted to be in charge of her feeding last night.

Once dinner was completed, Libby Doodle Doo wanted to be held and she wanted all of us (me, sister and babysitter) to play with her. She was visibly angry if any of us moved away to do something else. I tried holding her to calm her down, but she was so restless. She squirmed to be put down – and as soon as I did that – she crawled up my leg so that I could pick her up again.

My babysitter wanted the Libster to try on some outfits that she had just purchased on sale– to see if they fit. Usually Libby Doodle Doo loves to play dress up with me, but she pitched a fit when Kristen tried to undress her. We gave up on the fashion show after the second outfit.

At bottle time, Libby Doodle Doo was very excited when she saw her bottle and then had no interest in it after a couple of lackluster sucks. I took her upstairs to comfort her and calm her down before bed. After 15 minutes of rocking her in the dark, I put her down in the crib. Before I even left the room she started to scream bloody murder. The crying stopped after a few minutes and – finally – thankfully – she fell asleep.

I went downstairs to join my babysitter and Little Zo Peep. We collapsed in chairs. All three of us – Mommy, Babysitter and Sister were exhausted from that Whirling Dervish of a Baby.

Her behavior was back to normal this morning. I’m attributing last night’s craziness mostly to teething (She’s cutting her 5th and 6th teeth in her upper gum) and possibly to the early stages of a cold (she seemed to be sneezing a lot this morning). And I’m sure that the experience of a new environment during the day at Day Care probably put her off kilter, too.

I'm curious to see what tonight's behavior will be.