Stages

I normally try not to whine or complain much in my blog, but sometimes I just need to vent.  Apparently, my children have decided to go through difficult stages at the same time.

Linus is my super hero in training.  He spends most of his day as Spiderman or Batman.  We read super hero books, make bat bunkers to hide in, fling webs, throw batarangs, etc.  I made him Spiderman jammies.  I even let him go out in public in costume.  All of this is fine.  I don't mind, I just ask that he not wear a mask while eating.  It gets more difficult when he refuses to wear anything but his costume, Spiderman t-shirt, or Batmand t-shirt.

Maybe not so coincidentally,  Linus seems to have developed whining as a super power.  It's bad.  Everything is done with a whine.  Every "no" or "maybe next time" is met with the start of a tantrum.  Today I walked calmly out of the zoo and to the car while he screamed and flailed by my side, occasionally trying to block my passage.  Like many children, Linus possesses the ability to be a complete angel for others while working out his mischief at home.  This skill seems to be waning.  Yesterday his preschool teachers almost called me to come get him because they were so concerned, thinking he must be very sick to be so "fragile" (their words).  I'm not completely sure what was going on at school.  Linus has only said he was tired.  The amount of demanding, tantrums, whining, and time outs is reaching epic proportions.  This is not to say he doesn't have sweet moments, but geez, this is exhausting.

My dear sweet baby Eileen is growing up and appears to be experiencing some growing pains.  She has started freaking out when put to bed.  I had to go get her from the gym childcare the other day due to crying.  While out at lunch Wednesday, she just cried and cried.  She spends a lot of time crying.  I know her teeth hurt (she is cutting 6 teeth right now), but I think a morphine drip might be extreme.  All I know is that I have a sad sad baby these days and it doesn't appear to be because of an ear infection.

At 14 months old, Eileen is capable of sleeping through the night, but hasn't had much interest in it as of late.  Starting around 1 am she wakes up crying.  I can't go to her because she will insist on nursing.  Dave and I are both spending a lot of time awake between the hours of 1 am and 4:30 am when I usually give in and nurse and she goes back to sleep until 7am.  I am actually ready to be  done nursing.  Our early morning feeding is the only one.  It was easier to wean Linus.  He nursed at 5:00ish in the morning, so when we stopped nursing, our day started at 5 am and he eventually slept later.  I don't think I can start the day at 2:30 or 4 am.  The kids share a room so I don't want to just let Eileen cry it out.  Linus can sleep through a lot, but probably not an hour plus of crying.

I am at a loss, so I vent.  The past week has been exhausting, especially the constant crying from both children.  I would love a day off with the ability to totally pamper myself --sleep in, get a latte, a massage, maybe a facial, curl up with my nook and read--all while the house magically cleans itself so I don't constantly remind myself of all the things that need to get done.  I know Dave fantasizes about sleep too.  In my youth I never thought my dream vacation would just be going someplace quiet where I could simply exist uninterrupted for an extended period of time.  For right now, I think I will just catch a quick nap and then regroup.