We Have A Screamer

Monk has decided that the best thing to do when he is tired or cranky or frustrated or unable to sleep is to scream like a tiny banshee. Seriously, his new toddler scream is the most bloodcurdling thing I have ever heard. His little tongue curls back and everything starts vibrating. Last night we had a bout of it at 3:00 a.m. Poor little Monk must have had a nightmare or something because all of a sudden this strangulated screech split the air and the whole house started shaking. Dada went in to turn on his birdies and try to calm him down, to no avail. I had to go in and do his whole nursing to sleep routine. When I put him in the crib, he started shrieking again, so I had to stand over the crib rubbing his back. Every time I would even think about removing my hand, the scream would start again like a tiny car alarm. It was awful. In the end I was bent like a pretzel and had to leave the room, hoping that he would sort it out, but I had to go back in 30 seconds later because it sounded like he was being tortured. In the end, I had to bring him into our bed. The bad thing is that it was completely obvious that Monk was manipulating us because every so often he would suddenly stop screaming and say something in his chatty voice. So his toddler scream got him what he wanted . . .