Everyone tells you toddlers are emotional, irrational tiny humans who cry at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason. Guess what? Moms of toddlers who happen to be 35 weeks pregnant are the exact same way (pregnant or not, I still think I would be this way). My husband left town for work Thursday night. That same night, my sweet Harper cried and cried and only wanted mommy to snuggle her to sleep. Then again at 2am, she cried and cried again. Exhausted, I put her in bed with me to try to get her to snuggle and go to sleep. She wanted to lay ON TOP of me and my 35 week pregnant belly, so needless to say, I didn't get much rest once she joined me in the bed. I determined she wanted to snuggle with me because she is well aware our world is about to change with the addition of a new tiny human to our family. But that didn't change the fact that I was exhausted and complained to my husband about how needy our 19 month old was being.
Friday night, I decided to give in to her wanting to snuggle and just put her to bed with me. Genius idea, right? That way we could both sleep and she wouldn't scream at 2am for "mommmy!!" This plan also backfired on me and still left me exhausted. I must share the details about this night, because thinking about it now, it was quite comical. Around 3am, she did wake up and wanted mommy. Luckily I was right there to snuggle her and it seemed like she was going to fall right back to sleep. Just when I thought her eyes were closing, her head quickly popped up and she started chatting away. She spotted her Minnie Mouse cup sitting on the nightstand and said "wa-er, Min-nee". I gave her the cup, and then she brought her fingers to her mouth and said "eeeee". I made sure to give her a snack before bed, so I told her it was time to lay down and go to sleep. Then she pointed to the pillows surrounding her, and I said those are pillows and that one is daddy's...she said "da-yee","pee-yo". When she heard "daddy", she must have been reminded of the pictures hanging behind our bed because she quickly stood up, pointed to the pictures, and said "da-yee" about 10 times. Then, talking about daddy made her think about basketball, because she started pointing at the bedroom door saying "ba-ball" over and over again. I told her basketball was not on tv and it was bedtime, then she tried "eeee" again, and I gave in and got her up to give her a snack. She ate a cracker, I read her a story, and we tried to go to sleep again. The whole process was repeated, and she was one chatty girl from 3-4am. Exhausted, I gave up and put her in her crib. She cried and cried for mommy. Eventually, the crying stopped and I got up to check on her and make sure everything was OK (plus, I had to pee, AGAIN). I could hear her sleepy breathing, so I knew she was asleep, but I still wanted to look at her before I went to sleep. When I peaked into her room, I saw her standing up in her crib. But she was asleep! Her hands were on the side of the bedrail, her head resting on her hands. I didn't dare risk waking her by moving her, and figured she would eventually lay down to go to sleep. Whew, what another exhausting night.
I did not want Saturday night to go the same way as the past two nights did. We had a very busy Saturday, and she was really tired by bedtime. I didn't have to snuggle her long to get her to sleep, and luckily she did sleep through the night. By Sunday, it seemed she was back to her normal routine of reading a book and getting put down in her crib awake to put herself to sleep. But guess who after reading her a story only wanted to cuddle up, pull her close, and rock her until she fell asleep/hold her all night long? Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face as I cradled her in my arms; it seemed like she melted into my arms as we rocked, and my heart just couldn't take it. It was so many feelings at once: how selfish I had been complaining about her wanting my attention, how much I really did love holding her close, even at 35 weeks pregnant, how she won't want me to rock her to sleep forever and I need to embrace it even if it's exhausting, how soon another baby will be here and our time with just the two of us was almost up, how much I love being her mom, and how lucky I am to have such a sweet, healthy, precious toddler whom I love more than words can describe.
I know my pregnant hormones are part to blame for the unexpected tears. I didn't expect motherhood to be as emotional as it is, and pregnant or not, I expect the toddler-like-out-of-nowhere tears to continue...sorry Michael! :)
Love this little girl! 
Crying because the crayons are inside the crayon box
She doesn't yet realize these machines take money and become even more fun when they move :)
