longest post ever

So I've wanted to blog all week, but have been so completely exhausted this first week of summer vacation that I just couldn't lift my fingers to write! And it's not because I've been having too much fun! No sir, this would be labeled the week from hell in a handbasket.

It started last Wednesday when Weredesh started refusing food, except yogurt, and was just a total grump. On Thursday she had a rough morning (fell asleep in my arms at 6:30am after a half an hour of early morning grumpiness), but made it to school and had an okay time there. We went to a birthday party and she was grumpy, but hanging in there. By the afternoon on Friday, she had spiked a 103 temp and was just miserable, the poor thing. And wouldn't TOUCH any food. We figured she was going through some teething pain, although 103 temp seemed pretty high. After some ibuprofen and Tylenol she was able to sleep through the night, but the following days were just HORRIBLE. She continually refused food, was cranky as all-get-out and just impossible to be around. I tried to keep my cool, but man, this girl was wearing thin. After 5 days of eating next to nothing, can you just imagine what HER mood was like? By Saturday I was a wreck from watching my baby lose her nice round belly and STILL eating next to nothing. I took her to Urgent Care on Saturday morning because I had had enough and needed my comfort level raised a bit. They found nothing, but that was good to hear.

We tried to give daddy a good Father's Day on Sunday, but Weredesh just wasn't havin' it. Daddy got to go for a bike ride and hang with his friend Craig which was nice (for him). I hung out with W. She took an okay nap and then we got out to the Bite of Bend as a family for the afternoon. The afternoon wasn't bad, but it wasn't a whole lot of fun hanging out with Oscar the Grouch. By Monday everything came to a head. Weredesh had the hugest meltdown I had ever seen: "losing herself, detached from everything around her and like her head was spinning around on top of her body like the Exorcist," as my friend Cathy puts it. (She's had experience with this.) I tried absolutely everything - took her temp, carried her inside, outside, the garage, offered her food, milk, tried to leave her alone (she would just follow me), sat by her - nothing worked. It was G~N~A~R~L~Y...the only thing I could do to calm her (after 20 mins of freaking out) was put her in the car and drive...

As I drove out of the neighborhood with this screaming child, her crying came to an immediate halt. I looked in my rearview mirror and she was sound asleep. The poor thing had spent herself completely until she passed out. This mom was ready to pass out as well. I drove home and carried her into the house to her crib. She slept hard last night; of course I didn't. Today we got up (reluctantly), got ready to go to preschool, and me for a workout. I can't remember ever being as dead tired as I was today, except for the 33 hrs. of travel it took for us to get from Ethiopia to Bend with a sick infant. (Are you seeing a trend here?) She did okay in preschool, but still didn't eat much. I brought her home for her nap today and she slept a good solid nap, but woke up really grouchy once more. She ate a little lunch (the eating was starting to get a bit better) and then Cory and I got her outta here, as she's always happier out and about. We took her over to our friend Jonny and Jorie's to play in the backyard with Grant and Gavin. They have a slide in back and we showed Weredesh how to climb it and slide down on her own. From this point on we started to see our baby come back to life! She was so damn happy with that slide, and slid and slid for about an hour all on her own, until we finally had to get going. She was one happy camper the rest of the night and ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and drank a bunch of milk on the way home. She even ate a bit more before bed. Gosh, it was good to see her smiling and laughing and being her old jolly self again. Now she's sleeping soundly and we're hoping for some more cuteness tomorrow...but no huge expectations, right? :)

Consequently, we have a new method in this house for dealing with Weredesh situations that are baffling. It's called the "call Cathy" method. When I am at my witt's end, I usually end up calling my girlfriend Cathy. She and her husband Todd (who used to be our roommate) adopted two children from Guatemala a couple of years ago and Cathy is probably the most resourceful friend I've ever known. She's been there done that. TWICE. So anyways, this whole "call Cathy" concept is fascinating. This is probably the 3rd time I've called her for help in the 6 mos. Weredesh has been home. Absolutely EVERY time I "call Cathy" the problem resolves itself the next day on its own. It's worked once again! Wish I would have thought about "calling Cathy" a few days earlier. :)

What caused all this you ask? I've asked myself this a hundred thousand times in the past week. Teething? Growth spurt? Virus? Anger? Being a toddler? All of the above? Who knows...but hopefully we're on the upswing. Cuz this mommy and daddy are WIPED OUT! (Oh, and to top it all off, I found out today that my hormone levels are currently at menopausal level. TMI? And yes, I'm only 40. And yes, it can happen this early. So basically I'm having awesome hot flashes and severely disrupted sleep. It's nice to be well-rested for these situations. Oh, these female problems are nothing new to me. So whatever. But a little sleep probably would have made matters easier.) Anyways, right now we're sitting on the back patio listening to our little munchkin snore her little head off through the monitor. Such a sweet sound. I think she's exhausted from this past week too.

All we could do was love her, be there for her, and try not to get too frustrated, resentful, or angry (easier said than done, right?)

As a side thought, the other day I was thinking about the thousands, probably millions of mothers in Ethiopia that are unable to feed or soothe their children. How incredibly stressful it must be to watch your children suffer and not be able to do anything. The stress I felt over how miserable Weredesh was for just a week pales in comparison to what it must be like to feel so hopeless for so long. Ugh, it hurts my heart to think deeply about it...

Okay, so I think this is my longest post ever. Sorry for the rambling.