A challenging week

After five days of totally being off her sleep schedule, it seems Riley is back on track today.  It has been exhausting!  My baby girl has been in play mode at 2:30am, 4am, 5am, at all the wrong times.  On top of the insane idea that 4am is a great hour to play, she has been up till 11pm at night.  I'm not sure why we had this change in schedule.  She has also been very clingy to both mommy and daddy and very sensitive.  She must know that things are about to change.  Baby number two will be here any day now.

This week has been very challenging.  With lack of sleep, my hips constantly being sore, the baby running out of room in my belly, a sensitive one year old who is constantly in arms, I am ready to give birth and get my body back.  So little one, any time you would like to make an appearance, your family is ready to meet you.

Holding onto the moments

As the arrival of my second daughter quickly approaches, I am finding myself feeling a little sad.  I want more one on one time with my baby girl Riley, who is turning one next week.  I want to spoil her and give her all the attention I can before there is a newborn fighting her for it.  I know I need to give her the freedom to play by herself and be independent, so there is no drastic change when the baby arrives, but I selfishly want to be with her every moment.  I am cherishing the cuddles at 2:30 in the morning when she snuggles on my shoulder and coos herself back to sleep.  I just can't get enough of her. 
I wonder how she is going to adjust.  Everyone says she is too young to be jealous of the new baby.  She certainly doesn't understand her life is going to be turned upside down in 6 weeks.  I guess we just wait and see what life throws at us, that's all we can do.  Enjoy the ride.

Drop in centre

I have been meaning to go to our local drop in centre, a 4 minute walk down the road, but Riley always seems to have her big nap in the morning.  Today I decided, she can push her nap.  What a fabulous experience!  The moms and nannies were so nice and helpful, and the kids were great.  There were so many toys to play with and the snack was fresh and healthy.  I was really please with Massey Centre.  Riley had so much fun and almost lasted to very end.  She was so interested in the older kids and what they were playing with.  She definitely needs to learn to not take toys away from other kids and how to share, but that will come with time and experience.  I will make a point of going to Massey Centre at least twice a week.  I can't believe I waited this long to go, silly mommy!

Introduce yourself

Have you noticed that when you meet other moms and dads at the park you seem to only mention the kids names and forget to even introduce yourself?  In my short 10.5 months being a mom, I have noticed myself do this and I am now making a point to mention my name.  We as moms, are notorious of putting our kids before ourselves.  It is no wonder that you sometimes find yourself wondering "who am I" and feeling like you are loosing your own identity.

I suggest trying to make an effort to introduce yourself and tell people a little about you, instead of focusing the whole conversation about the kids.  You are important too!

Strange Situation

I took Riley to Withrow Park yesterday.  It is much bigger and busier than our little neighbourhood park around the corner from our house.  Three little four year olds from the parks camp took an immediate liking to Riley,a little boy and twin girls.  They all wanted to push Riley on the swing and enjoyed her gleeful giggles as she swung back and forth.  The girls were very gentle, barely moving the swing, but the little boy was just a wee bit aggressive.  When he wasn't shoving the swing with one hand, making it twist in all directions, he was grabbing at her hands and trying to touch her face.  The camp councillors were on the other side of the park not paying attention to the kids on the swings.  I found myself in a strange situation.

It is not my place to discipline and correct a child's behavior that I just met five minutes ago.  I wouldn't want some stranger telling my kid how to behave.  But no matter how many times I asked him not to touch the babies face, or that Riley did not like having her hands grabbed, this little boy kept going back for more.

I finally had to take her off the swing and take her over to the wading pool, where I knew the camp kids were not allowed to go, just to escape this little boy.

I think I will wait a little while before returning to Withrow Park.

All Hail to the Single Mom

I would like to do a shout out to all the single moms out there.  I don't know how you do it.  There should be an award for surviving being a single parent.

I say this, because I had food poisoning this week.  Thank God, my husband was off work the next day to take care of Riley, because I was useless!  I was weak, still had stomach pains, had not slept the night before so I was in a daze, I pretty much lay on the couch and watched the day go by. 

At some point during my hazy day, I thought, what would I have done if I was a single mom.  Call in for re-enforcement?  But what if no one came to my rescue?  I guess I would have pushed through, as us moms do on a regular basis. 

Talking twins

You think I would have enough of baby talk by the end of the day, but I can't get enough of this video.  It is just so much funnier with twins.