EARS RINGING

I've always had people express their surprise at how much my third child screams.

Because 3rd children are meant to be the calmest of them all, grounded, serene and happy in their own skin.
  
Not my little boy. 

From the very moment he was born, Lorcan just screamed - and very loudly at that. 

Doctor gave him Zantac for silent reflux, but there was nothing silent about it for our ears. 

His name means The Fierce One so I figured he was just demonstrating the full unrelenting force of his name.

Fast forward 16 months and Baby has become Boy. But he's more ferocious than ever.

The screaming has got worse. 

Much much worse.

Nowadays, every where I take him, he squeals, everything he wants, he squeals, everything I force him to do (such as car seat, pram, sit down for dinner, bed), he squeals, everything he's not able to do, he squeals. 

The shrill holler also happens when he wakes, when he hurts himself, when he's denied something he wants, when his teeth hurt, when his brother and sister try to cuddle him, when he's bored. Oh the list is endless...

Yet to look at him, butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He's very cute and sweet looking. Blond hair, shiny blue eyes, beautiful smile. When he's not making so much noise, he's fun and smiles a lot, and I get loads of cuddles. So I know he's happy - he's just a very determined little boy who knows what he wants and how to get it. 

At the expense of my hearing!

Lorcan The Fierce

My sore ears are ringing with the sound of his intermittent screaming. 

Each squeal is like a stab in the heart and a ache in the ears. Hundreds of times a day. 

He's a smart little fella, he knows what he's doing, in fact sometimes he laughs when he screams because he sees people regard him with shock and wince as they blink back the pain. 

In the last week, everyone I've met has noticed this high-pitched piercing shriek - it's getting him the attention he obviously feels he needs. I suppose it's his way of being noticed above his older siblings, who are pretty loud and hyper and overbearing.

He's screaming in my ear now because I just stopped him from trying to eat my laptop's power cable! He punishes me in this way every time I stop him from trying to kill himself!

And now he's laughing because he knows he has the power in our relationship, able to render me immobile and compliant with one other-worldly screams. And now he's making my ears throb again as he tries to take his socks off. 

Arrrghhhhh!!

But seriously, Lorci, I know you're pre-verbal at this stage, but please please give me a break. I'm desperately trying to teach him the right words to use rather than letting him default to this most primitive form of painful communication. I just hope that once his words kick in, the kicks he gets from screeching all the time stop. 

If only.

                                               ******
[In the 20 minutes it took to write this blog, the little fella has screamed at least 50 times, appeased momentarily by biscuits, cuddles, juice, toys, TV and bread sticks]