Cranky

That's the word for Joanna this week: cranky. Don't ask me why; I don't know. I have theories, though, which I'll get to. We had a really great morning; she played so well at play day. We had 7 kiddos here, I think. They all played so well! I was very impressed. For the most part, Joanna just wandered around and played with this and that, as all the kiddos did. She did discover that she can get in the toybox and play very well with all the toys from there. It was really cute. I didn't get my camera out at all -- too much chaos, but I'm sure she'll do it again and I try to get a pic. She also seems to have done very well at MDO yesterday (yea for not being sick and being able to go so Mommy doesn't go crazy and jump off a cliff!); she played with the other kiddos (or near them, anyway) and she took a great nap. So, here come some of my theories for uber-grumpy Joanna:

• She's bored: Perhaps I try to get too many things done (laundry, cleaning, work, email, As the World Turns) during the day and she's tired of not having my full, undivided, entertaining attention.
• She's tired: I have had to put her to bed at 6:45 two nights now due to extreme grumpiness, and last night she slept like 12 1/2 hours
• She doesn't like me anymore: She was fine at MDO and fine at play day with all the other people
• She's frustrated: she can't walk, we don't play outside because she can't walk
• She's hurting: I suppose some big 'ol honkin' teeth could be trying to break thru
• She's sick: She seems fine now, but she's had an off and on runny nose, cough, congestion, fever, etc. since we weaned
• She's thirsty: It seems to me that she hardly drinks anything from her cups, but she doesn't seem dehydrated. I know she misses nursing, although she has mostly stopped asking. Sometimes she'll give me the "milk" sign and try to lift up my shirt. Sorry, girl the dairy is closed.
• She's hungry: Although she eats and eats and eats, maybe she's not getting enough nutrients or something. She doesn't seem malnourished or anything, though.
• She's 1: Maybe it's just developmental to be clingy and grumpy all the time. Her very favorite thing to do is for me to hold her while I'm standing up and doing nothing else. For obvious reasons, I try not to indulge this. I'm trying to get her to enjoy sitting and rocking with me; that's pretty fun for me, and I think it's growing on her.

Due to the extreme crankyness/frustration/grumpiness/boredom/hurting whatever, we often spend our afternoons elsewhere. She really is a much better human being if we're out and about. I'm looking forward to the pool opening up during the week. I think she will like going to the pool some days. It's also free, which is nice.