A first and toddlers

My son just had a first!! He ate cereal for the first time today. So exciting!!
I've been stalling for awhile mostly because my girl really didn't take to it. She wasn't sure if she liked it...I just looked at our video from then and it was too cute....she did some shakes and shudders and it took awhile before she ate that way.
Not my boy.....I put the cereal in his mouth....he moved it around a little, swallowed....looked like he was deep in thought like "Hmmmm....what is this....do I like....um, yes....like...give me more".  He actually opened his mouth for more after a couple of spoonfuls, I could hardly believe it. The nurse said they have to learn how to eat since sucking from a bottle is quite different, never thought of it that way. Looks like this kid learns quick.  I asked the babysitter to feed him also so I could take some pics too.

Feed me.

I wanted to start out w/ the positive because I have to say this last week w/ my girl has been exasperating. One of the hardest weeks yet.  Mostly because we dealt with sickness the first part of the week and we have had tantrum city like no one's business the latter part.  Just this morning I was on my last nerve and yelled--"we're not doing this again today, I'm sick of it." I feel bad for yelling (wasn't the only time) but it's just been exhausting.  It started last Sunday night/Monday morning when she woke w/ a fever and I took her to Dr.. She ended up having a bad urinary tract infection. She was pretty sick for several days and she had to actually get a boost of antibiotic shots in her legs because her fever wouldn't go down. Well, it took until maybe this past Friday for her to show signs of feeling better. She was up on/off most of the nights, not eating well, just plain sick.  When she was feeling so crummy I relaxed on the bottle rule we have now--bottle in the morning and bottle at night. That's it.  Well, over the last few days she's been throwing herself on the floor, writhing around, yelling, kicking, crying, spitting....when I tell her no, we have bottle in morning and bottle at night. But wait, it hasn't been JUST for the bottle....pretty much anytime I've told her NO for anything she's melted down. She'll get mad, throw something, then tell me to go get what she's thrown....ummmm, no. When I don't get it she starts w/ the tantrums and yells 'I want bottle...bottle.....bottle" over and over again. Serious meltdowns.  Nothing has worked. I ask her, "do you want to go to your room?!" Sometimes she'll even say yes so I pick her up-she starts flailing in my arms-and I put her in her room until she can calm down.  I've tried ignoring her and she'll be on the floor and scoot close to me and try and hit. It's just been ridiculous.  I've said "stop crying" about 50 times a day.

The logical side of me can say that I am sure there is a lot going on in the background for her. She's super tired and it took awhile for her to feel better. It wasn't until just today she ate somewhat normally and that's been 7 solid days. I gave her the benefit of the doubt the last few days because I just wasn't sure if her tantrums were due to still not feeling well, but it's just continued.
The emotional side of me just feels exhausted and spent....let's face it, it wasn't fun this past week. Not at all.  A friend sent me an email link to someone's blog who wrote about being a parent and how it can be amazing, wonderful....and in the next moment can turn you into a woman on the edge of insanity.  Or something to that effect.  I felt better after reading it because she articulated things in a way that just made so much sense. And I felt normal again.

All I can hope is that things get better w/ more food and better sleep.  I haven't even mentioned that my son also decided this past week to go back to waking every 3-4 hours and wanting to get up at the crack of dawn. Good timing, eh?

So I really want to leave on a positive note: we had an impromptu photo session on the couch today.

Uh Mom...I think she's got my ear!