Well, last week was certainly...a week. Between bad weather, Dominic behaving like he was possessed, and Brian being sick again for a couple of days, I was at the end of my rope. On Monday, Dominic was an angel, but Tuesday he was acting like he a demon. We had music in the morning where he was horrible for the 2nd week in a row (he’s never exactly well-behaved at music class but it was even worse than usual). I was so frustrated that I wanted to get the h*ll out of there as quickly as possible so instead of letting Dominic walk outside - something I’ve been making an effort to get him to do - I didn’t bother putting his shoes on him. I just carried him for a quicker escape. In my haste as I walked outside, I somehow managed to fall down. Thankfully, I managed to hold on to Dominic so he was okay and landed with my belly on the cushion of the diaper bag. My first 2 thoughts were the baby and Dominic. My knees and hands were all scraped up and bruised, and my back, neck, and ankle were sore. The fun of being pregnant...pulling muscles as if I were 80 years old. I was terrified that something had happened to the baby.
By the time I got in my car, the baby was kicking and moving - thank God. I checked all day long for spotting to signal a problem but thankfully everything was fine. I debated calling my OBGYN, but I had a similar fall when I was pregnant with Dominic - because I’m the clumsiest person ever. I went to the doctor for that one and they kind of gave me the impression that falling wasn’t that big of a deal. I guess that’s the difference between a first pregnancy and subsequent ones...I’m so much calmer and easier-going with this pregnancy. Anyway, BCM has been moving around ever since, so thankfully all 3 of us were fine after my stupid fall. Thank you, diaper bag!
That day didn’t get any better though. I forgot to mention that I was up half the night the night before going to the bathroom myself as well as being woken up by poor Brian who was sick with yet another bug - luckily this one was MUCH, MUCH less severe. He was able to go to work Tuesday but felt very badly. Meanwhile, Dominic’s mood did not improve after music. He was whinier and fussier than I could stand. I had to cancel having playgroup at my house that afternoon because I was worried after the last epidemic that he had Brian’s bug and would give it to the playgroup. Dominic seemed a little better after his nap but that was short-lived. My sister Stephanie came over to watch him while Brian and I went out to dinner to use a Groupon that’s due to expire and can only be used Monday through Wednesday. Of course, because I was still trapped in this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, when we got to the restaurant, it was closed for a private event. We ended up ordering CPK to go, which wasn’t a bad Plan B. At least I was given a brief break from my demon-like child for an hour.
Although Brian got better from the bug, Dominic continued to be whiny on Wednesday. He was MUCH better than the day before, but he also went to school for 3 hours that morning, so perhaps I just felt that way because I didn’t spend the whole day with him. I’ve always noticed how bad weather affects people negatively, and those several days had been cloudy and rainy. When I was a teacher, these were the worst days. The teachers and kids had no energy, and everyone seemed miserable, not to mention that the kids’ behavior was always much worse. On Thursday, Dominic woke up with a runny nose, which continued throughout the day even after taking Children’s Zyrtec (as recommended by his pediatrician). I’m not sure if it was another cold, allergies since I’ve heard that hay fever is supposed to be horrible right now... or is it teething yet again? Dominic’s 3rd canine was popping through, which would also help explain his recent behavior. By the time Dominic went to school on Friday - a sunny day, he was back to being in a good mood but he continued to have a runny nose randomly. I'm still not sure why his runny nose keeps popping up.
School has been going well for Dominic. He still gets upset when I leave usually but calms down very quickly and is always happy when I peek in when I pick him up. Brian and I have noticed how Dominic is actually learning at school too. Last month, they learned about animals, and as a result, he’s shown a huge interest in animals lately and has started idenifying them by name and even sound recently. October’s topic is parts of the body, something we’ve been working on for some time too. Dominic already knows most of these although it’s hard to get him to pay attention long enough to get through all of them.
Even though school has been going smoothly, music, on the other hand, has been a disaster lately. Structured activities like music, Gymboree, and gymnastics where Dominic is expected to follow directions and participate are a big challenge for him. He’s so stubborn and just wants to do what he wants to do. I stopped gymnastics and our 4 Gymboree sessions from our Groupon ended last week, which we won't continue. I’ve thought about stopping music, but I know music is something that he loves in general and I believe he actually likes the class when he's not fighting the activities, but more importantly I really feel like he needs to be involved in these kind of activities in order to learn how to behave in these situations. I’m hoping that the structure of school helps with this as well. I just don’t know how much of this is considered normal boy behavior and how much is simply disobedience. I’m thinking timeout boot camp is about to begin again for my little angel.
Another recent behavior is Dominic’s tendency to not let go of items. This is not be confused with not sharing because he still is willing to share usually. The behavior I mean is when Dominic is playing with an object and then is told that we’re stopping that activity and starting a new activity (going upstairs for a bath for example). He’s completely compliant and happy to move on to the new activity, but he absolutely does not want to give up what’s in his hands (the item changes depending on the time). Sometimes it doesn't matter to me if he keeps the toy quite honestly, but if it's a situation like he’s going into the bathtub with a toy that will be ruined in the water, then that’s where the problem arises. This has been a big issue in music, so I’m going to try to bring an object that he can hold on to at music when it’s time to put away an instrument he’s playing with. Hopefully, this will help because I'm desperate! I’m wondering if this is related to a transitional object, but he still has not found one that he’s stuck to all of the time.
On a happier front, Dominic’s language is exploding! In just the last day or two he’s started saying repeatedly, “yow” (“cow,” which he knows makes the “moo” sound - an obvious influence from school!), “baby” (whenever he sees a baby - something that I’ve really been working on with him for a while), “uppa” (“up please,” a very pleasant alternative to the whining sound he had been making when he wanted to be picked up), “eye” (as he points to his eye almost poking it out), and most excitingly “dove you” (“love you!”). His favorite few words continue to be “fan” (and although he’s still obsessed this is thankfully dwindling a bit), “hello” (when the phone rings), “chee” or “shee” (“Cheerios,” his favorite food), and most of all at the moment “uh oh!” Dominic will say this when he drops something, when someone else drops something, when someone falls down on TV, and most humorously when Daddy or Mommy scold him for something. So apparently, when he gets in trouble, he knows it’s not good. Although Dominic continues to be someone I would consider not much of a talker aka a boy, he’s been speaking in his own language a ton the last week or two, something that his teacher told me is him trying to talk. Most importantly, he understands the majority of what we say and is echoing a lot.
I’m 33 weeks pregnant now, meaning only 7 weeks left. I’m continuing to sleep horribly even when taking Benadryl. My energy level is higher than it was a couple of weeks ago when I was sick, but I still get easily tired. Simple activities like going to the grocery store are really exhausting by the end the trip these days. Not sure how to avoid doing things like this especially with close to 2 months left. I mean, how does a stay-at-home mom avoid going to the grocery store of all places? And chasing after Dominic? It’s his favorite activity. When he gets that smile on his face, thinking I’m going to chase after him, how in the world can I not follow after him and play his game to make him so happy? I do what I can and then have to just rest afterward.
As we get closer and closer to the due date, the reality of the situation is really starting to set in for Brian and me both. Throughout the whole pregnancy I have had 2 big fears/stresses: 1.) wanting to avoid having Dominic feel slighted or displaced and 2.) how in the world am I going to logistically deal with 2 kids - 2 schedules, 2 sets of demands, 2 people to pay the appropriate amount of attention to, and basically 2 of everything. Brian hasn’t seemed too nervous about the whole thing, but I guess the bigger his “Honey Do List” gets full of baby-related tasks to complete soon and the smaller our bank account looks as we buy more and more baby-related items on top of everything else has finally helped Brian realize how soon the baby will be here! So much to do in so little time...with such little energy!
No comments:
Post a Comment