Defcon 5

So I'm here, in Austin. It's much greener than I expected and lots of rolling hills, also unexpected. I'm going on 3 hours sleep and it's been a long day, but it's been awesome catching up with my friend. Seeing the girls together has been incredibly fun, it's like the last 6 months didn't even happen, they are thick as thieves again.

Sofia had a Stage 5 meltdown at the airport this morning. (I had to wake her up at 3:30 a.m. to leave for the airport - for future reference, not a good idea at all). It was right before boarding the plane, so the entire airport watched her have a tantrum, my dragging her off to a corner so I could attempt to regain control of the situation, etc. This was no ordinary tantrum, this was DEFCON 5 level, crawling on the ground, going limp, body stiffening, shreaking, sobbing, hitting, screaming tantrum. I was near tears myself as I literally was not able to control her and she was lashing out. I knew it was from sheer exhaustion, but all the people staring at me didn't know that. All of a sudden, I was the parent of *that* kid and it was not a good feeling. I was hoping she would sleep on the plane...she didn't. So all day, she was on the verge of - for lack of a better term - manic behavior.

Her and her BFF are now sleeping together, like two peas in a pod. I'm hoping tomorrow I will get my sweet girl back.