Rough week

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry about all the super cute things that Romelie does that make me smile and love being a mom. Unfortunately, it hasn't been the best week. So while I still love being a mom, here’s my list of the top 3 not-cute-at-all things that Romelie does or has done lately.

1. She cries. A lot. Now I know, babies cry and toddlers cry and that’s just part of raising kids. But Romelie has never been a big crier. We’ve been lucky. So why has she suddenly become such a mess? She’s often really difficult from about 5:30-7:00 in the evening. Then she has dinner and plays happily until bedtime at 9:00. Well, we figured, why not cut down on the fussy time and put her to bed earlier? Win-win. So since Monday, we now feed her at 6:30 and put her to bed at 8:30. We thought that would equal 30 less minutes of crying. Instead, she now cries off-and-on from 5:30 until bedtime. And God forbid we should try to give her a bath during that time; she will scream and scream throughout the entire ordeal. Now I understand if she falls down or if she’s hungry or if she’s mad because we told her no, she might start crying. But honestly – I have no idea what sets her off from one moment to the next. It’s unpredictable, it’s irritating, and it makes it not fun to spend time with her. Sorry, but it’s true.

2. She BIT me. While I was breastfeeding her. Not okay. She used to bite me from time to time when she was maybe 7 or 8 months old. But I was firm and said no and stopped nursing and she’d cry and learn that there were consequences to biting and she hasn’t done it since. Plus then, she didn’t have any teeth. Well, she does now, and to my complete surprise last night while I was nursing her shortly before bedtime, she BIT me. Hard enough to draw blood. I was so mad at her because I honestly believe that she knows better and was deliberately doing something she knew wasn’t okay. I don’t know if she was mad at me or trying to get my attention or what, but it pissed me off. And believe me…it hurt.

3. She does things that scare the crap out of me. Now this, I know, is not deliberate, but it doesn’t make it any less un-cute. For example, she throws her body around when she’s excited. Which actually can be pretty cute. Except sometimes she does it while she’s sitting on the couch and she throws herself backwards without looking and Chason or I just barely catch her in time. She also continues to choke on stuff. Often what she chokes on is water. She’s been drinking water since she was 6 months old out of the exact same sippy cup, but apparently that’s not long enough because she chokes on the water maybe half the time she drinks. Sometimes it’s just a little bit going down the wrong tube and it makes her cough once or twice, but sometime she really sounds like she’s drowning and her face turns red and it takes a few seconds for her to breathe. And it’s horrible. I swear, I get a few weeks older with every meal she eats.

I’m not trying to get down on Romelie or on me and Chason – we’re still loving and protective parents and we still think Romelie’s a good kid. We continue to hear nothing but raves about her in daycare, and she’s started to do awesome things like give mini-hugs and follow very basic instructions. But just know…it’s been a very rough week.