Growing Pains

As I squinted at the alarm clock this morning after receiving a friendly tap on the arm from darling H, I realized that it was time to get up and go to the Y...well, I had four more minutes to sleep, but decided it was now or never. Any other morning, H would get his milk and settle back into his own bed with no issues. Not so this morning. I decided to leave him in the bed with J, where he was happily drinking his leche, but when I closed the bedroom door to get ready in the living room, he started screaming "Moooommy! I want my Moooooommy!" This, mind you, is while his father is laying in the same warm bed as he, and perfectly capable of comforting him.

The last two nights, H has woken up in the middle of the night, crying for milk. The milk in the middle of the night routine was one that was very hard to break, as I let it go for way too long. I know that when I was a working mom, I let a lot of things slide in order to get the sleep I needed to be a functioning employee.

I reminded H the first night that he no longer has any milk in the middle of the night, and he cried back in his pitiful but assertive voice "Then I want Chicken Nuggets! With Ketchup!" Hmmmmm....maybe he was truly hungry. Thinking back on the day, I remembered that he had eaten an inordinate amount of food, and then I heard his tummy grumble. He drank his milk and went back to sleep for the next five hours, so I'm fairly certain he actually needed it, but who knows?

After getting ready and realizing that H was not going to stop crying, I put him back in his own bedroom, and left for the gym. I could hear his cries all the way down the hall, and felt like a big jerk. It would have been so easy to just chuck it all and lay in bed with him, but this is the first time since I participated in team sports in High School that I've felt REALLY committed to an exercise routine. I know that it's only been two weeks, but I have not skipped a single day that I have scheduled. I have been looking at my prior committments and really working exercise around them, so that I haven't had a chance to back out of anything, or cancel going to the gym at the last minute.

I feel great when I'm done, but I hate getting back into shape. This morning was the first morning that Alex's triathlon training partner was back from vacation, so I met with both of them. They are doing so great, and I feel motivated to keep going just by seeing them work toward such a great fitness goal. I have my eye on completing my first when the next round of triathlons comes to New England next Spring, so need to establish good habits now. Plus, I really want to have a successful VBAC, and that spurs me on in the mornings as well.

I got home with frozen hair (thank you nine degree weather) and a sense of accomplishment, ready to tackle the day. H was awake and I felt ready to be a mom instead of having to wake up for a half-hour or so watching Curious George and Clifford through a bleary daze of sleep. I think that more than anything, just having my own time has been so important. I even get to shower in peace!

Different subject, but this morning H said to his horse that wasn't doing as he wished "I don't caaaaare! That was your chance!" Cool. I like when he says please and thank-you after I've modeled them for him, but the others he can just leave to me.