My toddler is taking advantage of me!

I really have nothing new to report. A full week has gone by and there is no indication whatsoever that this baby is any closer to being born. I have been having contractions on and off so hopefully I am making progress but won't know anything until my weekly appointment on Thursday. For the record I am still confident that I can and will VBAC this kid if I go into labor on my own.

Like I said last week, clearly my will has nothing to do with getting this show on the road. I am still feeling pretty good overall. It is officially allergy season thanks to the unseasonably high temps this week and we have all been bracing ourselves. Today is the first day that I have really started to have symptoms, another reason I am really anxious to get this show on the road. I am a little swollen but suspect that my blood pressure is still well within the normal range. My feet hurt, but that has more to do with all the walking (coupled with the fact that I have been wearing flip flops) than anything baby related. If I had one real complaint it would be that I am not sleeping. I get up every few hours to pee, which after 6 months or longer, you do sort of get used to. But for the past week even when I am asleep my mind is so active that I don't feel like I am getting any rest. Last night I could have sworn I was awake, consciously thinking about the baby's delivery, but when I looked at the clock several hours had gone by...at least part of that time I must have been "asleep". It would be really great if I could just turn it all off and really sleep, but with less than two weeks until my scheduled surgery I really don't see that happening.

Aside from thinking about the baby all.the.time. things around the house are same old, with maybe a few slight exceptions...which brings me to the title of this post.

Lily is smart and I am very much afraid of what that means for Dingle and I down the road. Seriously. There is no way that she understands what is about to happen to our family of three. Yes, she knows what a baby is, but there is no way she understands what it means to have the baby come and live here...I am not even sure Dingle and I know what it means to have another tiny person come and live with us. All that being said, she knows something is up and she is taking full advantage. As I just mentioned, I am tired and I just don't have it in me to be the consistent "setter-of-limits" that I normally am. It has taken Lily approximately one day to recognize that: tired mommy + the art of charm = getting exactly what she wants.

Neither Matt nor I ever give in to her when she is raging like a maniac, and trust me she can rage with the best of them. But this new found manipulation is almost worse. She is just so damn sweet! Today I let her watch two full episodes of Curious George (watch out Elmo the monkey is taking over) because she batted her eyelashes and there was cuddling. After our walk today she kept insisting that she was not hungry for lunch until I offered to let her sit in a little chair at the coffee table. And wouldn't you know it she was charming and sweet and ate everything on her plate. I am more than a little worried about the precedents being set, but honestly, am I going to fight with her about where to eat dinner later?

...nope, not even for a minute... as long as there is cuddling.