the doctor was right

So when I queried my doc about the combination of pregnancy and picking up/carrying around a 25 pound toddler, she assured me that I couldn't hurt the baby. She stressed these last two words emphatically. The baby. Her meaning, of course, was that I could hurt myself.

And I have. Ouch. I've re-aggravated an old S-I yoga injury. Now, I'm having trouble walking. This is making it even harder to pick up/carry around a 25 pound toddler. When Erin gets into one of her "melty" stages (as in getting close to meltdown), all she wants is for me to walk her around in circles. Six or seven go-rounds (through the living room, kitchen, breakfast area, den and back to living room) seems to calm her but man, has that gotten hard! Nothing else seems to work - pushing her in the stroller, having David carry her for the circumambulations, or simply sitting in our comfy rocker and rocking our way through the stage.

I should at least get some Tibetan prayer wheels so we can make it worth our slow and painful while.

I'm going to try a chiropractor, which I've never been fully comfortable with. If that doesn't work, the doc has recommended physical therapy. After 12 weeks of therapy with a running injury, I know I don't like that!

We're in the 33rd week. Sometimes April can't come soon enough and sometimes it feels far too close. Sigh.

hugs

Erin was in a hugging mood tonight. She saw a picture of a hug in one of her books (well, actually it was three monkeys arm in arm in Hand Hand Fingers Thumb that she designated as a "hug"). So, then she hugged Dada. And Mama. And Sadie.

And then she proceeded to hug the wall, the giant stuffed chicken, a Snoopy doll, the table, the chair, a box that came from Amazon, the sofa, and her two toddler chairs.

She then wanted to hug the cat. The cat's not so good at hugging. We're still working on this, especially because her hugs often include pulling tails and feet.

Cuteness in words

Erin's vocabulary is still expanding by leaps and bounds - we thought she was moving fast months ago but lately she's been going crazy with the words, words, words!

Still, in her lovable 20-month way, she doesn't get all of them quite right but what she comes up with is, of course, adorable. Here are a few of my latest faves:

"olly-by" for lullaby
"pokee-doe" for polka dot (she LOVES polka dots, btw)
"peekey-boo" for peek-a-boo

Also, she requests a few songs thusly:

"more? star?" means Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
"'pider. more." means Itsy Bitsy Spider
"beep beep beep, car" means The Wheels on the Bus (as in "the horn on the bus goes beep beep beep."

Her latest crazes? Owls, Pat-a-cake (in a nursery rhyme book we checked out of the library), her Raggedy Ann doll (whom she calls "Katie"), pouring water into bowls and bottles in the bathtub, outside (going outside, noticing that pictures were taken outside, noting that Sadie has gone outside [to pee pee]), tacos. The latter is especially strong. When I ask Erin what she wants to eat, no matter the meal, she says "tacos!" exuberantly. Which actually works in Texas due to the breakfast taco craze. Her favorites? egg and cheese or bean and cheese.

She's also learned to correctly identify cold. She's known hot for a long time (and often accompanies it by pursing her lips and blowing - as in, blowing on hot food) but now she tells me that the diaper wipes are cold or that she is cold in the car. I know as time passes that she will be able to tell me her wants and desires, like and dislikes, and eventually moods. It's amazing to watch the transformation.

And speaking of emotions, she's a little caught up in "sad" and "cry" right now. In Mama Do You Love Me?, the mother says she will be sad if the little girl ran away and stayed with the wolves. Erin is intrigued. She says "Mama sad" over and over. And sometimes, when she perceives that something hasn't quite gone right, she asks "Mama sad?" or "Dada sad?". I cuddle her and assure her that I am not sad, but it makes me cautious about using that phrase too often, especially in a disciplinary way. She's also very keen about pointing out when others are crying and will even say "Erin cry" when she has been upset herself.

I can see the little empathetic wheels turning . . .

Putting the word out about little Ike

And we think we've had it hard with our sleep issues. Everytime I read Kari's posts, I tear up.

Day ???, Insanely Behind

I think we have hit the point - the one where, even though I pledged last April 1 to blog daily about Erin for a year, it is clear that I can't keep up the pace.

I think I'm going to have to go back to sporadic blogging, which will sometimes be daily and sometimes, like now, when I'm feeling c-r-u-s-h-e-d, will be not so regular. The pregnancy is the not-so-proverbial truck full of logs that broke the camel's back.

Things are, overall, though, going okay. Erin is still very clingy, but our new bed routine seems to be working okay. There was a moment last week when it seemed to quit working for us, but things turned around. The only problem now is that Erin doesn't stay in her little bed all night. Every night between 12:30 and 1:30 she crawls into bed with me. I don't mind really. Except that because I'm pregnant, when awakened I find that I have to pee like crazy - which means I hold it until she falls back asleep. Not good while pregnant, I know. There are also the nights that she's practicing being Flopsy McFlopsalot. And, I still don't know what we'll do when the next little one comes home.

She's definitely teething again. Our doctor has also confirmed that she has allergies (and cedar's been high lately). And then there's the new baby. Whenever I try to talk to Erin about impending changes, she won't even make eye contact with me. How's that for a smartypants?

This will pass. Things will change. I know this. But I'm so freaking exhausted that I can't keep that in focus very easily.

Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's. Listening to Erin attempt to say Happy Valentine's was one of the most adorable things I've ever heard. And she pulled in a bevy of cards from friends and neighbors and family. Sweet girl.

Day 323, Catching up - pictures!

This was from a few weeks ago.



Erin's teachers are SO much better at getting the pigtails in than I am!

And yesterday, we took Erin on the Zilker Zephyr. You can tell she was thrilled.



She did perk up a little after when we took her to play on the playscape.



She didn't fully perk up though until we took her to Trudy's for queso and tacos. Ah, a child after my own Tex-Mex heart.

Day 319, a step forward

For those of you who've been following our sleep issues, here's a post I made to AustinMamas this morning:

So, just a quick update - last night, we made a big production of moving Erin's crib mattress into our bedroom and setting up a special "bed" for her in our room. We cleaned and organized (read: toddler-proofed) the room. And then David carried the mattress, I carried the linens and she carried all of her little crib buddies down the hall parade-style. We had also gone to Bed Bath and Beyond to get her a special pillow. She loved the new bed.

I laid down beside her at 7:30 and it took her a little while to drift off to sleep (I imagine everything just felt new) but hallelujah I wasn't having to sit in a chair and hold her around my pregnant belly. And we had no crying/screaming/hysterics. I was able to leave the room at some point, check email, have a snack and chat with David. She slept soundly until 3:15 when she called out for me and seemed about to cry. Going with the flow, I just scooped her up and put her beside me in bed where she fell right back asleep and slept until 6am.

It's been three weeks since I've had such a peaceful night. I felt like a new woman this morning. And I felt like I had my sweet daughter back. I can honestly say that now I believe all of you guys who said we'll get through it.

The next step will be allowing Dada to put her to bed instead of me.

Fingers crossed that we're in a new phase. And I guess we'll just figure out what to do once the new baby arrives. I can't imagine all four of us sleeping in one room, but I guess we'll see!

And it's such a nice day. I want to go the Shady Grove and sip a Shady Thang. Darn pregnancy.

Day 318, this is not about sleep

I just had to post this from a Cookie Loungers FB email I received:

Something just out today is our made-to-order Dark Belgian Chocolate Mookie (our answer to what's a cupcake) filled with molten chocolate and paired with Vanilla Bean ice cream, Cherry Compote and topped with Toasted Almonds and chocolate drizzles. Awesome. $5.50 hot out of the oven.

Wow. I so want this.

I really believe, too, that this will solve our sleep problems.

way behind

I know I'm way behind on blogging, but honestly, I just spent an hour tonight crying and trying to put Erin to bed (yes, that was me crying - at times we were both crying). She is more clingy than I ever imagined, seems not to want to be held by anyone but me right now, and I can't put her in the crib without waking her (due to being very very pregnant). After four tries tonight, exhausted and at my wit's end, I handed her off to David.

She has quieted down now, after 45 minutes of torturous screaming, and I feel like total crap.

Everyone keeps saying, this will pass. I keep saying, when???

And never mind what I said above, the crying just started again. Poor David.