Mommy, mommy, mommy!

As my Mom & Dad and Carey's Mom already know, that has become Greta's all-purpose distress signal. She says it when she drops her bagel, she says it when Jinx paws at her for pulling her hair, and of course, she says it in the middle of the night when something wakes her up. At first, it was a nice break for me... after all, Daddy wouldn't do if Mommy was being summoned! But now I'm starting to feel a little unloved. This morning Carey left for work just before 7 and Greta watched her go. She sweetly said "bye-bye!" as Carey walked out the door, but then she lost it. 20 minutes of angry protesting ensued. I tried everything -- every soothing voice, every toy, every TV show, every gimmick I know from 16-months of parenting. Nothing worked. It was as if she just needed to get it out of her system.

Thankfully, by 7:30 it was over and we had 15 minutes of genuinely happy playtime before getting in the car to daycare. The good news? She was all cried out when we got there and sat down immediately for breakfast. No smiles for the daycare ladies who try so hard, but at least she didn't pitch a fit.