November 13th,. 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: Tonight, after dinner, Tommy told me to go to bed. I am still under the weather, trying to fight off this cold. And I had a horrendous day with the kids: Jack is not feeling himself and cried all day long, sometimes uncontrollably. And Mallie was being a high-maintenance baby, not letting me put her down much. Tommy must have seen the exhaustion in my eyes and took pity on me. I'm writing this from bed at 9 p.m.!!!!

One thing I've learned today: I learned that sometimes my mommy needs me as much as I need her! My phone rang at 8:20 this morning and she asked if she could come over....this isn't a rarity- although it's a good 2 hours earlier than she usually calls. She was up at 4 this morning, worrying about several different issues. I cannot count how many times I've been up for hours, watching the clock waiting for it to turn a decent hour to call her. It was nice to know that she was waiting to call me this morning and that she wanted to tell me what was on her mind. I hope I helped.

Best life tip: When I start feeling like I'm drowning in whiny or crying children and I want to throw one or both of them out of the window, I try to create an out-of-body experience for myself. I just try to pretend that whatever is going on is not really happening and transport myself elsewhere. Honestly, half the time, I don't know where I go, but wherever it is, it's better than where I am!!!

One moment I wish I could redo: I decided to put my foot down with Jack today. He's been asking for his pacifier ALL day for the past 2 days, even though he knows that the only time he gets it is at naptime and bedtime. I am sooooo tired of hearing him whine for it. So I decided that we are going to get rid of it all together....figuring that if he's miserable all day without it anyway, might as well just give him a reason! I put him up for his nap and listened to him cry and yell for me for an hour. He was beside himself, but I held firm. He slept for 1/2 hour and then woke up screaming for it again. After another 1/2 of him sobbing, I gave in. As he sat on my lap, sniffling and breaking into periodic sobs, I realized that he was really, really warm to the touch. I took his temperature and he had a low-grade fever. I've had the feeling that he's been not feeling well all week....which could account for him asking for his pacifier constantly in the first place. All of this started making me feel really guilty for letting him work himself up so much all afternoon. I wish I would have put it all together sooner and saved him some misery.

Biggest laugh of the day: Jack was sitting next to the baby's wet diaper we had just taken off of her. He picked it up, so I told him 'Put that down, it's yucky.' To which, he replied by squinting his eyes, lifting his chin and pursing his lips and quickly asking me "That my poo Mom?" Once he saw me laughing at him, he continued asking me with the same expression on his face, over and over again.

Best Tommy moment of the day: This one happened yesterday: I handed the fussy baby off to Tommy and told him not to put her down and let her cry (as he sometimes has the tendency to do!!!), then I went back in the kitchen to start the dishes. Things got really quiet after a while in the living room and I peaked in to see the baby laying on her changing mat in front of Tommy. She was smiling at him and kicking her little legs while he had a pair of her pants on his head, waving the legs of the pants around by furiously shaking his head. He wasn't saying anything, just ricking back and forth in her view and waving his new hat around. He didn't even know I was watching, until he heard the laughter coming out of the kitchen.

Tommy also had a nice victory today. I called him to ask him what in the 'h' I should do about the screaming Jack Gilbride today. He told me to give him some Tylenol. I snapped at him and said 'What the 'h' is that going to do? I'm calling the doctor' and basically hung up the phone on him in frustration. Oh yeah, and I also noted that he was acting like his mom being 'Dr. Gilbride' even though he didn't know what he was talking about. About an hour later, the nurse from the doctor's office called me back and advised that I give Jack Tylenol for the evening to see if it improves his mood and peps him up. I had to call Tommy back with my tail between my legs. He was gracious though.....he laughed, but then said that someone in the office had just said something funny.

Best Jack moment: Jack came running downstairs after his bath with his 1/2 wet head, in his little red, zip-up, footie pajamas tonight. He looked so cute, and so little. After a day of testing me, whining and crying, and seeming bigger and more obnoxious than usual- it reminded me of how little he really is and that he is still my baby.

Best Mallie moment: Mallie has had a few rough bottles today for some reason. She's been coughing and screaming in the middle of them. The early evening one was no exception. She had a complete fit and we couldn't get her settled down. I brought her upstairs, away from her noisy brother, and laid her on her changing table in her room and closed the door. I stripped her down to her little diaper and she stopped crying almost immediately. As soon as she made eye contact with me, she was smiling and cooing and kicking around like usual. We chatted for about 20 minutes and when I dressed her and brought her back downstairs, she was good as new!