Monday, February 16, 2009

My Day Off

Landon's daycare was closed today for teacher training, so I took the day off to pretend to be a stay-at-home mom. All I can say is it's a darn good thing I work.

I had some warning that the day might not go so well. Landon is getting six teeth- four molars and two incisors, and spent at least 50% of his awake time on Saturday and Sunday screaming and writhing on the floor. We tried motrin, teething gel, popsicles, frozen waffles, sing-a-long videos, walks outside, trips to the park- absolutely anything to decrease or distract him from his pain. And despite the limited success of our attempts, I remained optimistic about our Big Plans to head to the "Baby Bloomers" program at the Austin Children's Museum this morning. I was sure that all the other kids and activities would distract him from his teeth. And they did to some extent- he had lots of fun throwing plastic fruit across the room while exclaiming, "A BALL!" and even more fun carefully walking up and down the curved staircase (because we don't have stairs at home or anything). He enjoyed story time but got a little freaked out at music time when a nearby kid kept banging a set of cymbals near his head. After 90 minutes and a whole package of graham crackers he threw a fit when I wouldn't let him steal a handful of mini rubber ducks from the gift shop- so we made our exit, with me holding him sideways around the middle as he screamed and kicked.

The rest of the day involved no napping and lots of screaming. My insomnia has come back with a vengeance and I don't think I've gotten more than six hours of cobbled together sleep a night for the past week- so that, plus the screaming, resulted in one of the top 5 worst headaches I've ever had and I felt like I was breaking apart from the inside. My beautiful, quiet office - even with its mountain of work - has never seemed so good.

There were some sweet and funny moments, but they were notably all after 6 p.m. when I would have been with him anyway. We've been working on body parts and just today mastered the belly button. With the size of his belly, it's very hard for him to find the button when he's sitting down- he has to pull up his shirt, flatten his belly with one hand, and feel his way around with the other, it's hysterical and he gets so excited when he finds it. The nose remains his very favorite part and he loves to point to other people's and yell "Nose!" with a big smile- he seems to be continuously delighted that everyone he sees has one. I showed him Rosie and Tex's big noses and he thought they were very funny- he kept touching his little nose to theirs and cracking up. And despite my splitting headache, exhaustion, and nearly overwhelming frustration only moments before, I laughed too- and felt my heart swelling with renewed love for that giggly little man.

But that's not to say I'm not still really looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.

9 comments:

  1. ugh, teething is the pits! why can't teeth magically appear overnight?! baby bloomers sounds so fun- I wish we had a program like that here!

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  2. I had the day off today as well, and I managed to miss giving my daughter a bottle. Good job Mommyattorney - spend one day at home and starve your daughter!

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  3. Ahhhhhhh, motherhood .... not for the feint of heart.
    Enjoy the office tomorrow.
    :)

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  4. Oh no! I'm so sorry it didn't go well! Teeth are the worst. Charlie watched a lot of non-AAP approved TV when he was teething because he was miserable and it was the only thing that distracted him. Don't worry, though, it's not you! There are great SAHM days and terrible ones just like there are great work days and terrible ones. Enjoy your quiet office today!

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  5. Heh - it's definitely not for everybody.

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  6. My girl is 21 months, so I'm with you! Also, I have a problem with insomnia. The only thing that has consistently worked for me lately is a meditation recording that's on my IPOD. You know, the kind that starts off, "Listen to the birds. How happy they sound. You're in a meadow. It's a beautiful day. Etc." I quite often fall asleep and wake up enough to take my earbuds out after it's over. Maybe it would work for you!

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  7. I am always amazed at the universality of toddlerness. LM loves to cry out "a ball!!" and he loves to point at people noses and say "no!" although his absolutely favourite one is "ays!" and then he pokes your eyeball with that sharp little finger! hope landon's teething gets better - we're gearing up for some teeth too as LM just got #8 after not getting any for 4+ months. i'm thinking there's a pack of 'em under the surface.

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  8. Enjoyed your blog post! So glad that Landon was able to have a good time at the Museum despite the teething. It always amazes me how enaging the big red staircase is for toddlers!

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  9. I hear you with the baby/insomnia thing. Lately my baby has been waking up at 3:00 in the morning, crying, then going back to sleep in five minutes. Problem is, it then takes me over an hour to fall back asleep. Wtf. As if baby-related sleep deprivation isn't enough, add insomnia to the mix and it's enough to send a woman over the edge.

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