It's true. It's almost time to say good bye to my husband again. He was home for a short 6 day turn around which has been a whirl wind of visits, little jobs here and there and trying to find time for each other.
Tonight we have invited Joel's cousins over for dinner. Ang is the only babysitter Mika has had besides grandparents and Aunty Sarah/Uncle Jay. She has done such an amazing job with her daughter that I don't worry about Mika when Ang has her. They both love Mika so much and it shows when they are with her. Plus Ang and I have had a lot of really good heart to heart talks when I was on my last maternity leave, and she gets me. She offers an ear without judgement. I have been lucky that she has Fridays off and we were able to develop this relationship.
Tomorrow morning we are heading out to Riverton to visit our nephew. I'm excited to see the little squirt as a hospital visit is just not the same as spending some real time with him. This will be the first time Joel meets him and I think he is really looking forward to it. We will head out around morning nap to try and keep Mika's schedule and we will leave after dinner when it's Mika's bedtime. (again trying to keep the routine as much as possible)
We have had a few rough nights and being almost 9 months pregnant is making my patience run thin. I am glad Joel is home this week to help, but I also wonder if he is the on causing the disturbance. Mika by no means sleeps through the night, but usually I can get up with her briefly and get her back to bed. It's like she is checking to see if I am still there. Sometimes it's to eat, but still it usually isn't a long ordeal. This week has been full of night wakings - like I'm talking every hour, sleeps on the couch with Joel, and various other bad bed time adventures. Mika has really developed her attitude and Independence lately and has started these little temper tantrums. I'm not sure what to do about them. They consist of screaming and crying when she doesn't get her way, throwing herself on the floor and just generally being a brat! I want to correct this and quick, but I'm not sure how........
Other than that, things are great. My house is painted, my bedroom and bathroom have been redecorated, the house is clean and in order and things are going well. We have a doctors appointment Monday to find out more about Bug so I'll leave that update for later.
Hey Ash!! sounds like what my little man is doing!!! I am going thru terrible 2's, just not a pretty sight. He is a handful at times and flat out embrassing some other times. I've been lucky lately as he is sleeping thru the night again for the last 3 weeks. I went through (and still am going thru it) what you are currently going thru. At this point i wonder if it will get better...its a phase i know it is. I am sure you are doing fabulous job with her. Unfortunatly i hate to say this but patience is what you and i need to get thru this phase. i know lack of patience for you is few and far between, and i am sure hubby being home is a big excitement for her and she misses him. its the same here sometimes.
ReplyDeletekeep your head up chickie!! your doin great!
I started time outs for Riker when he was 9 months old because he would flip out on me. It's a fair amount of work consistently putting them back in their time out spot, because of course they test you and run away, but it really did help to teach him to take deep breaths and calm down. Also to teach them that that behaviour will not get them what they want. I watched a lot of Supernanny :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ladies! I really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteJobina - I read a lot about time out and starting them at this age. Did you use one spot in your house or a playpen or a crib to confine them? I read about the crib time out, however considering we already struggle with sleep I worry that I will only increase that as she will associate punishment with the crib and not bed time. I right now have been removing her from the situation and explaining to her why what she did is wrong, however she won't look at me and she just laughs in my face when I try to make her look me in the eye. Did you have that with Riker at all?
Carolyne - you are totally right that Mika gets excited to see Joel and then it interfers with schedules/routines. It's tough cause it's now going to be like this and so for 4 weeks she will not see him, then for 2 she will. I struggle cause I feel for her, she's little and that's a big change that's always going on, she likely doesn't know when he/if he will return, however I also realize it is going to be like this forever and don't want to have to keep reinventing the routine on a 6 week rotation! Ahhhh!!