Sometimes I get so tied up talking about how difficult my daughter is, I get surprised about how truly delightful and amazing she can be. I've mentioned it once or twice before, but my daughter is honestly just a very very challenging child. Or as my pediatrician likes to say, "You got the
double black diamond of babies." Our experience parenting is not the typical one, although as time goes by we are finding people that also have "spirited" children who really relate to our struggles. Rosie has had a multitude of health problems, coupled with a strong personality and need for constant stimulation and distraction. If you're thinking we are just weenies or crappy parents (you wouldn't be the first), a "spirited child" is a real thing. You can read about other parents with spirited children
here, or if you need help with your spirited child
this book has been enormously helpful.
Rosie is wonderful, but doesn't sleep well (or really at all - I'm serious, some nights she's up for 4-5 hours on end) and it leads to epic meltdowns (not to be confused with normal toddler temper tantrums), alternating with seemingly manic behavior the next day. She's tough to keep up with on a good night's sleep (haha, a good night's sleep, that's hilarious), but when you're sleep deprived, oh man, it's torture. She's never slept through the night, she's 17 months old. On a good night she's up every 2.5 hours. She fights you at every diaper change, car ride, clothing change, getting into the high chair, any kind of grooming, getting into the bath, getting out of the bath, basically sometimes it seems like she hates everything. She is bored very easily, she's very sensitive, and intense.
It's not like we spend the day cooped up, I've learned my daughter needs constant action (but not too many transitions.) We spend our days together on playdates at the
park, or
Children's Fairyland, or
Little Farm, and our afternoons playing outside and taking walks with the dog. Even that is not enough to keep her entertained many days. And those beautifully poignant moments you picture in your head before you have your baby, it's not that they don't happen, they are just way fewer and farther between than you ever expected.
All that being said, sometimes we just have such a great day. A day that restores my faith in procreation. A day that makes me feel like I won the lottery in awesome, super fun, sweet, cute and smart babies. I feel like I LOVE being a mother, and I feel like I don't want it to end (instead of calling my husband at 4pm and telling him I'm never spending another day alone with our daughter ever again and come home right now before I seriously freak out.) And today was one of those days. We didn't do anything "special" per se - we went to a friend's new house that is empty of furniture, we ate lunch picnic-style on the floor, we ran from room to room with Rosie's little BFF Melly, we went swimming, sat in lawn chairs, and then we ran around some more. Rosie ate like a cow, napped like a rock, smiled like a clown, and all around loved life. She hasn't been sick in a while, and I can't help but think maybe her great moods lately are a reflection of feeling healthy and basking in this glorious summer weather we've been having. She's still not sleeping well, but I'll take this little win and run with it.
There was nothing special about today, it was just such a special special ordinary day. I hope I'll remember it forever, and so I document here. Happy Happy Happy Friday, everyone.
