No shorts, again!

Nikko was sitting at the window with Audrey and Ronin at 8a when I tried to get him dressed for school. Perhaps he was enjoying their company or the view from the window, but he was protesting heavily and didn't want to listen to me. It was a struggle to get him suited up and out the door, and even outside he was still crying and angry. I calmed him down, pointing out the approaching bus and trying to be soothing. Monica later reported that by the time he got to school he was a happy camper again.

This is the second time that Nikko didn't want to wear shorts again. I was sitting on the couch after lunch, Audrey was napping and the two boys were watching Monsters, Inc. I was dozing, and somehow snapped out of it to notice Nikko was standing by his room in the hallway and just took off his shorts. I rushed to get him and change his diaper, which had a small poo in it again, and he started fussing and getting angry, refusing to wear his shorts. I tried to coax him, but then gave up and let him sit on the Thomas chair. He was looking at himself in the mirror, smiling and laughing, pretty happy that he was only wearing his shirt and a diaper. The longer I looked at him, however, the madder I was getting because I knew I couldn't let this happen. Maria would be coming later and what if he refused to wear shorts when she came? What if he started clawing at the sides of his diaper the minute he did a #2? What if he started scratching even though he just had a #1? And the longer I let him think it was ok, the harder it would be to make him put on shorts. So, I buckled down and approached him, and started putting on his shorts. He gave me a fight, squirming and screaming, and he ran away from me. Each time he tried to push down his shorts I pushed his hands away. We were pretty miserable, so I announced it was vitamin time so I could distract him from his shorts and change the mood. It worked, again. I wondered if I should post this situation on the proboards, but figured that I'd get two camp replies: either let him stay in a diaper if he wanted, or stop the behavior and force him to wear shorts but distract him. Which I did. If this goes on tomorrow, I will continue to be baffled.

Speech report: Having a good week - much more engaged in purposeful play. :)

This afternoon Maria brought along Sarah, a new line person for Monday sessions, and Tianna, a high school girl looking for service hours. I hope we didn't scare them away, because all three kids were rambunctious today.