First Trimester Blues

Life with an active toddler can be stressful. Add to that raging hormones, fatigue, and frequent nausea and you've got a disaster waiting to happen. These last few weeks have been...interesting. I've had to put myself in time-out a few times in order to regain composure before I attempted to control whatever he was doing. I'm not regretting the decision to have another child, but certainly adding a nanny to the mix these last few weeks wouldn't have hurt. Alas, we're surviving and Benjamin still seems happy and fairly well adjusted. :)

It seems with this pregnancy (in addition to mood swings and bone crushing fatigue) I'm overly sensitive to smells. I've heard this from women before but it wasn't a problem with Benjamin. This time I can't stand the smell of garlic, dirty diapers (more so than usual), and my fridge. I have to hold my breath each time I open my fridge and leave the room afterwards until the residual smell clears. I've cleaned it out and washed it twice already and no one else smells anything in it, but it makes me so sick that anything I get out of it can be put right back because I can no longer eat it. Luckily I can tell these symptoms are fading each week, so hopefully I'll be better in a little while.

To lighten some of the load, I've been taking advantage of Benjamin's curiosity by allowing him to help me in the kitchen. He stands next to me on a chair at the counter and watches me every night as I prepare dinner. He used to stand/lay at my feet whining because I wouldn't play with him. Now that he's old enough that I'm not worried he'll fall or grab the knife out of my hand, I've found the current situation much more appealing. Luckily he loves it too. He'll watch me mix, chop, fry, etc. for as long as it takes. It's been such a relief. However, there have been a couple times when his attention waned and I turned around to find he'd moved his chair and found new sources of entertainment.

The first was our medicine cabinet. (It's now locked.) I thought he was moving the chair to look at the radio (another favorite diversion). I never even saw him climb onto the counter, just suddenly he was there.


He also found the rice cooker, with it's various lights, fascinating. That night nothing I did compared.


And nothing beats emptying out all the pans and climbing in a drawer. Especially if you've stashed Mom's cell phone there earlier. (I have found my phone in the strangest of places, including the fridge - probably knew I wouldn't be looking there anytime soon. I'm so glad I can always call it and follow the ring.)