22 Weeks

So far I have managed to survive both this pregnancy and the holidays. We had a nice time visiting family and friends but boy was I glad to get home. We stayed 9 days with my parents and 2 days with my best friend from college. The visit with my parents went well. My best friend from college, T, has 5 kids ranging from 4 to 12 and they are a loud, boisterous family. G seemed to enjoy herself but many times I could tell that she was overwhelmed. The night before we left, she asked if we could go home. I got a kick out of watching her because she would often go off by herself to play, which is exactly what I do in the context of a lot of noise and activity.

Our travel this time left much to be desired. I timed both flights to be in the afternoon during naps. She didn't nap on the plane either time. Going worked out okay. By the time we got off the flight coming home, though, I was about ready to push G off the plane and stay on it myself for the next destination. For a long time now (many months) I've attributed her behavior to just being a strong-willed child and hoped that it would get better with time. But on that flight there came a time when I realized that I no longer had control of the situation and, worse, she was acting in a way that, to a stranger, probably looked like she was a child with ADHD at the very least. It was not pretty. She bit me. She pulled my hair. And that's the least of it. It was so bad that we got in the car (J picked us up) and I let into him, telling him what a mistake it had been to ever have one, much less two, children. He didn't say much. After a sleepless night mulling it over I came to the conclusion that rather than expecting my child to suddenly wake up one morning as a little angel, I was going to have to crack down and get much more strict with her. So far it's working. Once today I caught her looking at me as if thinking, where did my permissive mother go and who is this alien in her place? I've figured out that watching movies holds a powerful sway over her as does the threat of taking away the binky. Believe me, I'm using both those things to my full advantage right now.

The baby seems to be doing well. I remember with G that I would feel a lot of kicks and pushes from little hands. This baby doesn't kick so much as turn somersaults. Sometimes I feel as if my stomach is going to pop in a given spot and I have to push back to get her to move to a more comfortable position. I have another midwife appointment this week and I'm not even going to think about how much Christmas weight I've put on.

All the blogs I'm catching up on seem to be listing their resolutions. I used to be the type of person to make very specific resolutions every year and actually follow through on them. Nowadays I stick with more generic stuff like getting rid of clutter and having a baby. Oh, and trying to get my Christmas/New Year's cards out. Speaking of which, I better go get started on those. Maybe I should just be an under-achiever and combine them with birth announcements....