I'm Really Good But I'm So Not Perfect!

Andrina had a hard day yesterday. I think she just woke up on the wrong side of the crib in the morning and it threw her off for the whole day. She was fussy right from the start, which is very unusual for her. She's always so happy and easy-going but yesterday just FUSSY! For each of the two meals of solids I fed her, she whined a lot during them and several times when I'd be bringing the spoon to her mouth, she'd do a whiny type yell and hit my hand, making the food go flying! The first time she did it, I was a little surprised, but I was vigilant after that. When Andrina tried that again, I said sternly, "no hitting Mommy". Well, Andrina was cranky and had never heard me speak in that tone of voice to her before so guess what? She started crying! Just a little bit. I think the crying was more from her frustration over the whole situation than from my reaction to her. But even when she is cranky, she's not too bad so I guess I can't complain too much about it. She's definitely got a resilient personality so she did recover from each little "meltdown" pretty quickly. I think it was more of her being cranky the whole day that was the hard part to deal with. We did have a couple of bright spots during the day. Tom and I took her to the park and pushed her on the swing and walked her around the other play equipment. And she enjoyed the walk in her stroller I took her on later in the afternoon. But also, she did not nap good yesterday either.

With Adrina's fussy behavior, I was so happy to do errands yesterday evening while Tom stayed home with her to feed her her third meal of solids for the day. It felt really good to get out of the house and go driving by myself. I love to drive. One of my coping strategies actually. It was so nice to take the semi-long trip into Batavia to go to Linens and Things and then to Meijer. Windows unrolled, wind whipping everywhere and me being able to chill while listening to Bon Jovi, Poison, and Guns N Roses turned up really loud. It was so nice I took the longer, more scenic route home.

When I pulled into the garage, with the music still really loud, I thought to myself, please let Andrina have eaten her solids. Well, she did but she pulled the same hitting the hand behavior with Tom. And she was fussy still. Tom tried to put her down for a third nap but she would not take it. I was not surprised since she only takes two naps a day now. We tried to play with her for a little while but she was still really cranky. So I decided at 8:00 she'd go to bed then instead of at 8:30. After I bathed her I tried to give her her last bottle for the day but she did not want that either. She cried and whined, would not let me cuddle her to help comfort her and then she stared crying while "hitting" me. Not really hitting me, you know how babies just sort of fling their arms and hands when they are frustrated? That was what it was but it was enough for me. I said to her, "Mommy is going to have a margarita after you go down to sleep!". So I said my nightly silent prayer for her and put her to sleep in her crib.

I am NOT a drinker. I have something with alcohol in it about 3 to 4 times a year at the most. And I absolutely did not have nor did I want ANY alcohol while I was pregnant (I even refused communion at my Grandmother's funeral when I was pregnant because there is a tiny drop on wine on the wafer). And I have not had any alcohol in about a few months. But there is something so wonderful about margaritas. Maybe it's the high sugar content even without the alcohol in it. But that was it for me. It was almost 8:30 and Dexter was coming on at 9:00 which Tom and I watch every week. So I told Tom that I was running to Super Target for margarita mix and tequila.

So, my day ended better than it started. When I got home Tom said that Andrina fell asleep pretty quick and we blended up margaritas and watched Dexter while we each enjoyed one glass. I even got a foot massage from Tom. Then I got to watch the repeat of Rock of Love with Bret Michales at 10:00. My true guilty pleasure and the only reality show I watch.

However, the real happy ending came this morning. I got up at 7:30 and took a shower. Then Andrina woke up, in a GREAT mood, her usual self, drank 6 ounces from her bottle and then we went to story time at the library. She laughed and smiled almost the whole time. She loves the sing-a-long songs, payed some attention to the stories and watched the other babies there. So Andrina is back to her usual, happy little self. And her being happy makes me happy.