crankiness all around

All the human members of our household suffered from some crankiness today, but we all got over it in the end.

During the night, Natalie cried out several times. Mike said he would get her in the middle of the night! My hero! Turns out, he never needed to go get her. She'd cry for maybe ten seconds, then go quiet again for about an hour and a half (which I'm guessing was a sleep cycle for her). Then she'd wake up, realize she was still on her tummy, and complain, but be too sleepy and tired to keep going. Mike got as far as to have his legs over the side of the bed at one point, but she stopped. It was such a relief to know I wasn't going to have to get up! Unlike the two nights previous, I was able to go back to sleep in between her outbursts instead of anxiously analyzing every noise from the monitor. We did have an early morning again, but not as early as the day before. And she did fall back to sleep again on me after nursing; in fact, she looked like she could have gone to sleep right in my arms when I picked her up out of the crib.

Unlike most weekends, Mike got up early today. Early as in 7am. Or at least that's when his alarm started. He had lots planned for today so he had to get up early. But, he had very bad luck today. Everything he tried to do today was complicated somehow. Well, except for going to the dump to get rid of chemicals, that used up all his luck. Then the lawn mower was a bastard to start, he didn't have the tire key to change his breaks, and the weed whacker broke. He came in from working outside around noon a tired and broken man with more to add to his to-do list than to cross off. This stayed with him a lot of the afternoon, hence some of his crankiness.

Since he was outside all morning and then beat in the afternoon, Mike and I spent most of our day apart. I was inside with Natalie for most of the morning, although we did go outside to play in the yard and to chat with some neighbors. But when we got inside, it was about 930, too late for Natalie's 9 o'clock nap. So, I pumped and fed her her oatmeal. I then gave her her cup and tried to get a little work done in the kitchen, but she was cranky. For some reason, I had a short fuse and this got to me. She kept dropping her cup and fussing, and she already hadn't wanted to play in the living room. So, I put her down for a nap. She just howled. I went in to flip her over three times and it didn't get any better. So, I took her out to the living room and I nursed her to sleep about a half an hour earlier than usual. I had hoped she would nap, then nurse because I dislike this habit of sleeping almost every time she nurses. Not only do I worry that she'll have trouble napping after we cut nursing sessions, but I worry it gets in the way of her eating enough. Plus, a lot of the time, she winds up hurting me because she suckles so long and without the best latch. But, she didn't do that at this time. Well, she suckled for a long time, but didn't hurt me. I actually took a nap, too. I kept forgetting what room I was in when I woke a little bit, then forgetting what time it was when I figured out where I was.

After this nap and meal, she played some and we both had lunch. We needed to do the shopping, so Natalie and I went out to do it. Mike was tired from his work outside and if we were going to go, I wanted to get it done before she got super tired and hungry. I timed it just right and she fell asleep in the car. She got a good nap while I got gas and started shopping. When she woke up, she was happy to be looking around. As usual, a couple people were charmed by her. Most of the shopping trip, she was content to look around, but I had to keep her happy in line with some singing of "Wheels on the Bus" complete with playing with her hands. She was cranky in the car on the way home, so I rushed getting the groceries away (Mike did half, which was nice, since that's usually my job), so I could nurse her. She ate really quickly and started squirming around to get up.

Mike then watched her for a while so I could have a little break. They went and played outside for a while and I called my mom and cut up some strawberries. But when Mike and Natalie came back inside, it wasn't long before she was queen cranky. A diaper change didn't help, and she was not pleased being put in her crib. Mike was too tired to walk bent over with her and that was all she wanted to do. I'm wondering if she was hot on top of all that, too, because it was almost 80 in the house. It was gorgeous outside, so I wanted to take her for a walk, even though it was later than we usually go. Mike decided to come along, so we rushed around getting ready as Natalie cried. She cried for the beginning of the walk, too, which she hasn't done before. We were a little worried we'd have to cut it short. But, she calmed down and eventually fell asleep. Mike sat with her outside until she woke up while I started getting us ready for the evening. When she got up and came inside, what a difference! She was our little angel again happy to play with her toys for awhile, and content to stay in her high chair with her cup after she was done eating so we could eat dinner, too.

After dinner, Mike played with her for a bit longer while I finished cleaning up and setting up for bed time and bath. Natalie lasted a little bit longer with the aid of a game of peekaboo, then we started bed time. My job for bath time is to get Natalie undressed and bring her to the bathroom. Mike gets the tub all set using what I've set out. His job takes longer since he has to wait for the tub to fill. Even though I brushed Natalie's teeth, we were still ready early so I sat down on the toilet cover with her. Well ... she peed on me. She did this a couple weeks ago, too, but that time it all absorbed into my pants. This evening, it ran off my bare leg forming a puddle on the floor. Once in the tub, we noticed she had little red spots all close together on her back again. After some discussion, we've decided it must be from being sweating in her car seat for too long in one day, since she was out for too long trips in the heat. It didn't seem to be bothering her though. I'm a little worried about it, but not very. If it is from sweating, I'm not sure how we are going to avoid it when it gets to be humid and 90 in the summer. But, Natalie was also doing this wheezing thing today and yesterday. We both heard it and have determined that it isn't real wheezing. I have asthma as well as allergies (which often go together along with eczema), so this worried both of us to hear. But she doesn't keep it up long, seem short of breath, and we can't hear it in her lungs when we listen to her back. But that couple with the red spots ... it makes me a little uneasy in the back of my mind. I'll feel ready bad if it turns out that it was something and we waited to see the doctor.

Anyway, her bath went smoothly. She chewed her toys. She splashed some, but not as much as last time. She also likes putting her hands out in the water that I pour out of a cup. Mike is the one who makes sure she doesn't fall over and hit her head or lunge forward into the water to drown (I feel like I might have written that before), and I do the washing. When she's all done, we wrap her up in a hooded towel, and I carry her back to her room to put on her lotion and diaper, as well as any other skin care that might be needed like Desitine on her tushy or neck. Meanwhile, Mike is cleaning up the bathroom. Mike then puts her in her pjs as I get ready to nurse. Tonight's nursing she was very awake for a while. She has been all about slapping her hand in a downward motion today and this continued as she was eating as it had earlier. So, I was getting slapped on the chest, boob, and chin. She finally got really sleepy. Last night, we were at a really good part in Harry Potter 4, so Mike kept reading well after Natalie was asleep. But tonight, he was ready to stop well before she was asleep, so we chatted for a bit waiting for her to doze off. I should have waited longer to move her because she woke up the second I got up, but once she was in the crib with her kisses and we left, she quieted right down. Thus far, she has been a much more sound sleeper tonight, but we'll have to see how it goes later as she wakes up. Its still above 70 in the house so we put on her ceiling fan; I'm hoping that it doesn't get too cold for her in the night. I hate it when we get her up and she is cold, but this time of year, there isn't a way to have her not be hot when we put her down without her being a little cold in the morning. It will be nice when she's old enough to know how to use a blanket.

Since Natalie's been asleep, I've taken a nice long shower and painted my toe nails. Mike's been watching the Celtics in their play off game downstairs. I chatted on line for a bit with a friend from high school and I've been watching Star Wars III and now Dirty Dancing (ah, the "Hungry Eyes" scene is on right now ... what! a commercial! What is wrong with you people at Lifetime!). Pretty boring night, but low key. I can't believe its already so late. Usually I'd be in bed by now, but I really am not all that tired at the moment. Of course, if I were to lay down on the couch with a book I'd probably be out in a few minutes. Which is exactly where I think I'm headed ...