The Honeymoon is Over

Let's back up a week or so and that is when I realized the honeymoon is officially over. And by that, I mean we were thrown in, head first into what the life of the parents of two children is really like. Amelia, who had recently fought a virus--complete with fever, sore throat, and rash--immediately came down with a cold. Which Henry caught. Ugh.

Thankfully it wasn't THAT bad for him. But Amelia, on the other hand, sounded terrible. Nasty cough, seriously runny nose, and near the end, ridiculously enlarged tonsils.

You might be thinking that doesn't sound that bad. Sick kids? Trips to the doctor? Big deal, every parent has been there. But here's the kicker that pretty much did me in--on top of all the illness floating around our house, my sweet little lady seems to have caught a serious attitude along with her cold.

That's right, I seem to have jinxed myself. Amelia has probably spent more time in "time out" these past two weeks than she has in the time since she's turned three. Thankfully, her aggression is aimed towards me mostly and Jason at times, but never towards Henry. In fact, she can say a very rude, snotty sentence to me and then turn around in the next breath and talk sickingly sweet to little Henry (who she affectionately refers to as "Hen" or "Henny" now).

So Little Miss 'Tude and a house full of germs has made for a challenging two weeks. That, of course, combined with being stuck inside and the loss of sleep that has been adding up. And did I mention that I am again solely responsible for feeding our family again? My month long stretch of provided meals from my playgroup has sadly run out.

There is good news: Henry is still consistently sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches at night and he loves to take a 3-4 hour nap that overlaps with Amelia's naptime. Which means that we all manage naps (or at least down time) simultaneously. And, both kids also seem to be well on their way to recovering from their illnesses. And, this week has been SLIGHTLY better than last week now that Jason and I have tried to take a step back and really observe the situation with Amelia and attempt to change our interactions with her.

Amelia has assured me that my "sweet girl" is showing up tomorrow and the "mean girl" will stay home. Sigh. Good thing she is so darn cute or I'm pretty sure she would be on ebay by now.

Not too long ago, I heard someone say, "The days are long, but the years are short". Seeing Henry and Amelia next to each other each day only reinforces just how fast time goes. I am going to work on remembering that everyday--especially on these super challenging ones!