James

so we are at our wit's end with James, our sweet sweet almost 18 month old baby who screams for sport...I can laugh about it when I am not in the moment but he literally wakes up in the 5 o'clock hour every morning  and starts screaming--not just crying, but wailing and screaming at the top of his lungs. And he keeps this up until someone goes and gets him--and he can carry on for 45 minutes plus--usually at that point I go and get him and everyone else is awake. And you would think that once picked up from his crib he would be so happy to be rescued that he would be sweet and calm but many times his fit carries over and continues throughout the morning--sometimes off and on for hours and no I am not exaggerating. He will scream in the car when he's tired and usually falls asleep while I am in the car trying to get back home from wherever we are--and yes, I've tried coming home earlier--he always falls asleep when we are on our way home, even at 9:00 in the morning. And once home, if I try to transfer him to his crib, he inevitably wakes up and the screaming process begins again in earnest--or, perhaps he will sleep for another thirty minutes and then the screaming commences. It usually lasts into the afternoon off and on and then he starts climbing on the furniture--standing on the table etc. and I tell him no and put him on the floor--more screaming--he actually does laps around the house wailing. and then we maybe have a bit of peace during dinner and then he is so tired and fussy that we put him to bed around 6:30--by this time he has not had a real nap to speak of (see above) and is falling asleep where he's sitting. Some nights he cries, screams and carries on, and others he only does so for a few minutes. Now all of this would not be so bad except that I have three other moons orbiting me all day, who also cry, scream, and carry on in a normal way--but by the end of the day--or even by 3:00, I am fried--done. When James is happy, he is a sweet heart, but that's only about 60% of the time. The rest of the time he's miserable and miserable to be around. I only included one video here and not even one of the worst ones because who out there really wants to watch that except for the psychologist we'll have evaluating him? Anyway, sorry to unload on here but I know this is a loving audience and I promise pictures will follow soon--and if you have advice, please feel free to e-mail me. Thanks for participating in my little slice of grumpiness--cheers!