restored faith in toddler humanity

as if i hadn't puked enough during this pregnancy, last week (at 33 weeks pregnant with twins) i got the stomach flu. oh good golly. that was rough. i spent about five days puking, feverish, sleeping, generally feeling like poo, dizzy and experiencing all the other digestive goodness that comes along with the stomach flu. gross. i was in the hospital one evening for four bags of IV fluid for dehydration and a shot of something to stop early labor contractions. then it was followed up by a couple of days of the worst heartburn that i think may exist on the planet. all in all, it was really not awesome.

meanwhile, my husband entertained or organized entertainment (thank you to my dad and rog, my mil, our sweet neighbor and a couple servers at sonoma wine garden) for nolan so i could rest. the upside: i got to rest. the downside: nolan doesn't seem to come out of these mom-is-out-of-commission phases very well at all. there is a lot of yelling, screaming, anger, hitting, tantrums, throwing and general discontent. apparently it is rough to be three and have your world (even temporarily) turned upside down. i fear this doesn't bode well for the arrival of two new babies...errr....doh.

for the first couple days of my feeling "better," i still had very low energy and felt generally gross, so though i was "on duty," i was not my normal mommy self. i was tired. i felt dizzy and a little nauseous still and my patience was paper thin. combine that with toddler-hood rearing its ugliest head and things get really nasty, really fast. i will always love my little guy, but man...i did not like him much right then.

and then...there was today.

he was sweet and loving. he gave hugs and kisses. he listened. he helped me unload the groceries from the car and laid down for diaper changes all on his own. he didn't throw anything at me...in fact, he didn't throw anything at all (miracle). he didn't yell or scream. he didn't hit me. it was exactly what i needed. i had been in a rough space and was crying all the time and dreading the arrival of my new bundles for fear of what it would do to him. and just in time, he showed me a glimpse of the sweetness that is within him.  i know that it isn't going to be like this everyday and that we will surely have more rough patches, but today, he restored my faith in toddler humanity...if even just for a minute. thank all that is good.

our one rough patch was at the grocery store when he refused to ride in the cart any longer (which of course had to be the "car" cart that is huge and ridiculous to maneuver around) and wasn't listening when given the chance to walk. half way into our grocery journey, i was hearing, "mommy, up, please," which is really not an option at this point. luckily, i had remembered the ergo (which i haven't worn since i've been pregnant) and managed to finagle him into it on my back. and away we went. over nine pounds of twins (plus all the other weight of two placentas and two amniotic sacs) in the front and nearly 35 pounds of toddler in the back...four bodies walking through the store on two legs. whew. luckily, we made it.

the girls 33 weeks 6 days (combined weights of over 9#)

nolan 3 years and about 35#

my attempt at a full effect pic. :)