Strong Will

You know how before you have children, you imagine and dream of what they will be like? Well, I must say we've really lucked out with both of our kiddos. Madeline has the best personality! She's a kick-and-a-half to be around! She's really good at entertaining herself during the day and I love being in the kitchen and eaves-dropping on whatever she's doing...acting out a scene with her toys, negotiating resolutions to the problems between her dolls (apparently they need time out in their rooms every once in awhile!), running and dancing around the house, singing one of the tons of songs she knows, or getting out her spiral bound notebook and pen to "write" (and, of course, narrate aloud) letters to her friends and relatives.

James is usually Mr. Even Steven. {He must have gotten those dominant genes from both me and Keith!} A calm, happy boy almost all the time, which is pretty amazing given all he has to go through physically every day. He loves to play with his toys, watch his sister do just about anything, grab at whatever is in reach {too often his tubes}, have his legs and feet massaged, and be carried around in the front pack {this is the only way I get anything accomplished around here!}. Normally he only cries when he needs a diaper change, needs to be in a new position, or wants to be in a new environment.

Tuesday was NOT a good day around here. James often sleeps until 8 or 8:30am. Tuesday he started crying at 5:30am and DIDN'T STOP FOR SEVEN HOURS!!! {He took a few 5 minute breaks, but that's about it.} I had no idea what the heck was wrong with him. He was fed, he was dry, he wouldn't burp. He didn't like being held, being in the pack, going in the swing/bouncy seat/exersaucer/playmat/crib. Dancing? No. Cold pacifier from the fridge? No. Being rocked to sleep? No. When Maddie was a baby she definitely had her days {actually, nights usually} of crying...but never that long! I was totally going crazy. I do NOT do well with crying babies. I can't tune it out or ignore it. It just grates on me until I lose every shred of patience and I get ticked off at everything. Let's be honest...I was pissy. It was not my proudest day as a mother. I was ready to give him away to the Gypsies.

So...naturally, Maddie picks THAT day to put in her own two-cents worth of rebellion. She has quite the strong will and knows how to push all my buttons. First she wears me down with the CONSTANT talking and question-asking. Then she waits until the moments when I'm in the middle of some medical task with James and suddenly starts yelling about some URGENT need...you know, like she's out of graham crackers. {Repeated 50 times, with more urgency and louder volume and hand gestures and pauses so.I.know.she's.serious!} Then, when her need is not immediately met, she dissolves into tears and dramatically throws herself onto the ground with the most Oscar-worthy sighs and breath-catching sobs you've ever heard. {Followed by MY massive eye-rolling, "Oh.My.Goodness. Are you serious?!" sarcasm, and then I launch into The Boy Who Cried Wolf story, which she's now heard 100 times.} Oh, and of course James is still screaming bloody murder.

I just have to say here, James FINALLY calmed down {also for no apparent reason} around 1:30pm and took an exhaustion-induced nap, so by the time Keith got home from work he was a happy-go-lucky guy again. I told Keith about the-horror-that-was-my-morning and he said something to the effect of, "Wow, that's weird. [shoulder shrug] He seems perfectly happy now with me!"

Quick, somebody get a fire extinguisher because I think I just saw flames shooting out the top of my head!

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P.S.--Today Maddie came to me, out of the blue, and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry I was so bad the other day. I guess my brain was just not working that day, so it made me a bad listener. But don't worry Momma. My brain is working good today, so I'll be a good girl!" Awww...my sweet girl is back again! Keith told me that she said to him last night, "The other day I was being bad in my heart. I don't know why, but sometimes I'm just that way." :-) Aren't we all, sweetheart. That's what grace & forgiveness are for.