Tears for teething

I thought teething was bad before, but wow, two-year molars... tears and more tears and even more out-of-the-blue-screaming-over-everything tears!

I took Ben to the Japanese Tea Garden this morning to let him run and climb and look at the koi fish, but there was a construction crew working on one of the pools. Ben refused to let me put him down (even though we were really far from the work crew), and he sobbed when I sat down (holding him) to try to let him get used to the noise. However, when we got back to the car he repeatedly shrieked "Fish! Fish! Back!" 

"happy" train face

I then took him to another part of Brackenridge Park where there was no construction, but he wanted to be carried the whole time (thus defeating the purpose of taking him to a park to run his toddler-energy out). When I tried to put him down so he could look at the ducks and turtles near the river, he wailed again. He only allowed my arms to take a rest from his 27-pound-self to sit next to me on a park bench (luckily shady). 

He did perk up a bit when we heard the Brackenridge Park train whistle, so I took him to ride the train. However, the poor boy had another sobbing melt-down when we had to wait in line to board the train. So much fun.

I guess a smart, knowledgeable mama would probably have just gone immediately home after the first out-burst.

I think I have really taken Ben's usual sunny, happy disposition for granted.   :(

You may not be able to tell, but he's screaming "coffee! coffee!" here because I won't let him hold the expensive bag of coffee I'd bought for Clay (& didn't want him spilling!)

We took a guided preschool tour of the SA Museum of Art yesterday... that was "interesting," too

my usual sunny boy