What Happened to My Happy Hurricane?

Turns out, being a big sister is Not So Easy

So it seems Angelina's having some challenges after all. She is definitely a "spirited" child, requiring a lot of attention. However, her default is Happy. She has had her moments, but generally, her spiritedness makes us laugh more than cry. That is, until lately. My Happy Hurricane has become the fury of Katrina/Rita/Dolly/Gustav/Ike all rolled into one.

I didn't think this was related to the baby as it started a few weeks before he was born, but it seems now that's a big part of it. A month ago or so she just started being weepy a lot. No reason, she'd just cry - note, she rarely cried before, unless she was really hurt. She wasn't a whiner. But suddenly, everything made her weep. Then that advanced to tantrums. She's had them before, but not like this. Multiple times per day, lasting hours, with no obvious trigger.

And then the baby came. Now, keep in mind the weekend before he was born, she was helping Papa put together the bassinet and said "This is going to be the best baby ever!" and the next morning came running into the room, asking where the baby was. The day he was born she was part of the process, excited and mostly loving it all.
She was patient and calm and thrilled. No tantrums, no real difficult moments during labor, and it went late: it was after midnight when she finally went to sleep.

Then the real challenges started. Part of it was lack of sleep, but she's back to her usual sleep pattern now (except naps - she hasn't napped for us in over a year, but she did nap at daycare). She loves him, she dotes on him, but when it comes time for mommy to nurse - yikes! But it's not only then, the littlest things set her off. And then it's a vicious cycle. Our patience wears thin. We snap at her. She snaps back, and it escalates... We're working on our response, but how to change hers?

What's most frustrating, is she went from Happy Girl to Miserable Girl. It's so sad for me to see it, and not be able to fix it. I'm spending as much time with her as possible, one on one when possible, but with a nursing newborn, that's not so easy.






I'm just hoping it is only due to the baby's arrival, and will pass in time,and my Happy Hurricane will return.