Unfortunately, I saw some behavior this weekend that I haven't seen in years: a hardcore, full-on tantrum. James was invited to a party for a 3-year old neighbor. He didn't want to be there. He definitely didn't want to take off his shoes. Luckily, I took him out when I saw it escalating (despite protests of well-meaning adults). I can't imagine what would happen in a room of TALKING 3-year olds. He can handle our little neighbor but he gets upset when children smaller than him can speak. The experience was so horrendous for him that, once outside, he attempted to smash his head against the concrete steps. Wow. I caught him in time. I held him in a vise grip with one arm and picked him up by the back of his pants with the other. What am I going to do when I can't physically stop him anymore? Scary. I've got to figure out how to communicate with this kid. Meaningfully I mean, the gray areas, the whys and why nots. Basically, we understood each other perfectly on Saturday. I wanted him to try the party. He wanted to leave. How do I make the breakthrough?Anyway, that was it. As if a switch was flicked, James was back to being a happy kid. Since then there is one development worth watching. James has sobbed a few times instead of attempting communication. For instance, in the midst of playing ball, James started crying. What he wanted was to go inside and watch a movie, but instead of showing me, he broke into flowing tears. There were a few similar episodes. I've gotta get to the bottom of this. I believe that James knows he can't talk, but he has always tried to communicate with me in the past. I can't let him stop trying!!
