Come On!

So nothing really horrible has happened. Just some minor inconveniences. Our previous sitter moved to Phoenix so Lexi has been going to another ward member's home two days a week for about 2 or 3 hours. This sister is great with kids, has 3 girls herself (all under 4), is patient, kind, has a curriculum for the preschoolers, a great yard and animals. Lexi hates it! I can't understand exactly why since I have seen the kids while supervised and unsupervised and they are good, kind kids. The mom is caring and attentive. Lexi screams every time I leave and is weepy the whole time I'm gone.

Yesterday, I had a lesson first thing so I took Lexi over. As we turned the corner, she started crying. I happily got her out of the car, asking how her day would go, what toys she'd play with, books she'd read, etc. They always save Lexi a seat for breakfast, but she won't eat so we found some of her favorite toys and tried to engage while they wrapped up. I stood up, and she went hysterical. The mom stopped feeding her own baby and came over to see if she could help direct the energy. Lexi maintained some composure for about a minute or two and I snuck out.

At 10:30, I got a phone call. Lexi had been crying the entire time. The mom was more than happy to try to employ any of my tricks, but I told her I'd be right over. She totally understood and says she'd want to know if her kid had been miserable for over 2 hours, too. I appreciated the call and ran over. As I turned the corner, Lexi jumped up crying and ran to the fence to meet me. Everyone was sitting under the big tree, eating fresh popcorn and reading a book. We stayed for a few minutes. I was hoping Lexi might see that all is well and we can have fun there. She was, of course, fine while I was there.

The rest of the day she was a little fragile. She sat on my lap for almost an hour straight and watched a movie. She almost never sits down anywhere for more than a few minutes. I indulged her, we played, and had lunch. She had a really tough night (so, I'm sure this made everything seem all the worse to her thus explaining some of the outbursts) going to bed at 11:30 and waking up at 7, plus she was all puffy from crying for so long so I put her down a little early just in case she wanted to nap. She took about 2 hours but was super cranky all day. Allen got home and went outside to do forms so Lexi and I were together even longer than usual. We did go out and play and she was pretty happy, but she was not her usual self. Finally, Allen grabbed her up around 7 and we all went inside.

I had actually prepared this dinner I thought would go over well. I planned on cooking so that we could work outside until almost dark, eat around 7, give Lexi her bath at 7:30 and bed at 8. Well, Lexi was black with dirt so she got the bath at 7 and dinner wasn't done until 8:15. I asked her if she wanted to eat or wait for Mommy and Daddy. She said she wanted to wait. Since Lexi doesn't eat much, she'll tell me when she's hungry (which is almost never). She didn't seem too bad so we waited. Dinner was fine, but she was NOT going to eat. I asked her to have one bite and then we could having something else. She said "ok" in her most whiney voice and proceeded to cry for 1/2 an hour!!! By then, she was totally starving, exhausted and beyond reason. I said about 20 prayers hoping to get some mommy inspiration but nothing was coming. Never having had a 2 year old before, Allen and I weren't quite sure how far to push the whole thing. He suggested putting her to bed without dinner. My comment was this, "If you think that is right, and you want to do that, then you will be the one to follow through when she wakes up in the middle of the night starving." She did not go to bed without dinner.

The last couple of nights I've been feeling a little "off". I can't really pinpoint it, but I'm restless, achy (more than usual for pregnant people) and I can't seem to get my stomach settled. We'll I found out why. Before sun up, I was up with a bad tummy. Even though she should have been sufficiently tired and slept until normal time, Lexi was up 1 1/2 hours early too. We've been up since before dawn. I've been making regular trips to the potty while Lexi entertains herself. She wanted to lay down so I crashed with her and dozed off. She woke me up about 5 minutes later and I've had the chills ever since.

I had a lesson scheduled for today but have requested a reschedule. I have mutual tonight and since it's individual classes, I can't call in sick. Allen carpooled to work and had some big test go wonky so Lexi and I are on our own. I'm hoping if we take it sort of easy, I'll feel better by tonight and be a good leader at mutual.

Like I said, nothing too dramatic, but I'll be glad when Lexi is her normal self and I'm not sick!