What Now?

Things were going pretty smoothly for awhile after VomitFest 2009. Everyone seemed to be staying happy and healthy...wow, I know. Things were looking up. Notice I'm using past tense.

Happy:
Well, E has been transitioning out of naps for a couple months. She rarely takes one these days. But to be safe we have continued to put a pull up on her because we never know when she'll decide to take a little snooze. She's been dry all day every day for who knows how long until recently. Why? Well, we taught E to stay in her room during "Quiet Time". So, we're assuming she thought she couldn't come out to use the bathroom. Since then we have told her several times that she can use the bathroom during "Quiet Time", she just needs to tell us so we can help her. So far so good.

Another explanation for the accidents could be that she got so caught up in her play and then oops, too late. I'll go cry in the corner until Mom comes. This explanation is a big maybe. She's always been really good about stopping play to go to the bathroom. Whether she's dancing, putting friends to bed, watching tv, or eating, she stops to use the bathroom.

For the past couple weeks she has been going through another phase where she likes to dress, undress and redress herself...a million times a day. This doesn't seem to tire her...only me...because she is always in need of assistance at some point. It's usually a given when you hear spontaneous screaming, crying, and kicking on the floor that she can't get a shirt on correctly. Either that or one of her brothers is pulling her hair. Then she usually appears with a shirt, asking for help.

She has even attempted to wear the boys' clothes. Yeah...."the word on the street is struggle." This is usually when Baby E is here, not our 3 year old E. She has several personalities, voices, and behaviors. The main 3 are E, Baby E, and Mommy E. Sometimes I am corrected as to whom I am speaking, although most times it's pretty obvious who is here. E is just E. Baby E mimics the boys, cries, wants a bottle, and can't talk. Mommy E takes care of Baby E and she is always calling for dinner in a distant voice.

Healthy:
Anyway, back to my "everyone staying healthy" comment. It's me, again. What's wrong with me? Maybe I need to exercise more or something. But I was carrying O on Sunday when I squatted down to greet E and her new creation from Primary. Someone was behind me and inching towards me, not knowing I was there. I leaned forward and pulled myself up. That did it. That simple movement pulled what feels like every muscle in my back. I then carried both boys out to the van and buckled all the kids. My back was killing me. I haven't been able to do much of anything since then. Do you know how hard it is to care for three little ones without moving your back? Uh...the answer would be hard...really, really hard.