I'm pissssed!!!

Today, I tried something new. Jackson gets annoyed being in his Jumperoo because he can't go anywhere, he doesn't like to sit in his high chair for very long because he can't go anywhere, and he starts fussing in his pack n' play after a bit because he can't go anywhere. Jackson is a natural explorer. He is always on the move, climbing on things, getting his hands on whatever he can so he can sit there and look at it and stare at it...and he doesn't like to be constrained. So, we had gotten a baby gate a couple of weeks ago, and my mom told me to baby proof his room, put all his toys in there, and put the baby gate up. That way he could wonder around his room on the carpet, play, and still be able to see me and hear me, but I could still get some things done around the house, like laundry, vacuuming, dusting, etc, without having him on my hip or trying to get into things. So I sat in there playing with him for a little bit so he could get used to playing in his room, then I got up to go put a load of laundry in, thinking he would continue to play....

But it didn't work. Jackson threw his first tantrum today. He started fussing, which I kind of ignored because I thought "He'll be okay, he'll get used to it!" and I was still talking to him, so it's not like he was abandoned. But about 2 minutes later, he started screaming, banging his arms on the gate, stomping his feet--it was crazy! I walked over to see him, and he was beet red, huge tears rolling down his cheeks, sooo mad--it was heartbreaking! I picked him up and said "We won't do that again for a while!" I got some pics of his little tantrum before I "rescued" him (actually, I just had the camera in my hand when I went to walk by, so it's not like I tortured him to get a picture...I swear)





Then about 10 minutes later, he was happy again, and watching the squirrels out the window.