S-P-O-I-L-E-D

My daughter has become spoiled. Every book I read up to her arrival said you can't spoil a baby in their early months and to meet their needs to build trust and a bunch of other positive things...well somehow I have spoiled my child and have gone against every theory that I read.

Peyton doesn't like the bottle anymore and refuses (screaming and shaking) until I appear. She knows that mommy will feed her and if mommy isn't there that someone will call her and get her there soon. This has resulted in me missing the Rodeo and pretty much being tied down to being around her at all times. How am I ever going to wean her from breastfeeding...which was the goal in about two months from now? RIDICULOUS!

For awhile now Peyton will cry when she doesn't get her way. You are carrying in her into a store and as soon as you go to put her back in her car seat...she cries. You take something away from her that she wants to play with...she gets fussy. You change her diaper and she wanted to keep playing and she gets cranky. Again RIDICULOUS!

Peyton wants to be picked up or moved from somewhere and you aren't moving fast enough she screams at you. You are not paying attention to her when she wanted attention at that moment she screams. She is getting a little sleepy although it isn't close to her nap she will scream at you. What the heck?

Finally, after months of sleeping consistently throughout the night Peyton has realized that we exist when she doesn't see us and the quickest way to get some company or a snack is to cry uncontrollably at precisely 11:00 PM about 2.5 hours after she is asleep.

At first she did wake up one night several times and it came after a couple of days of congestion and coughing so I quickly used my motherhood medical degree and decided it was an ear infection. A trip to the pediatrician confirmed my diagnosis and we started the troublesome antibiotics (troublesome because she no longer takes a bottle which was the best way to get in her, the doctor suggestion of mixing it with baby food was nixed because wait...Peyton still thinks she is going to gag and die if she swallows any food and the juice in a sippy cup wouldn't work because we are still working on getting in our mouth and swallowing instead of soaking ourselves short of a wet t-shirt contest).

Well, she is on the antibiotics and still the past two nights have woken up promptly at 11:00 PM...maybe she is hungry...feed her and she still cries...it must be teething...right...well, until tonight where for the third night in a row she cried at 11:00 PM and it dawned on me that it might be teething but really...the same time every night she gets pain? Or is this an extension of our spoiled little baby and she just wants some attention? Because I don't know what it really is and I don't want to ignore her if she is in pain...we are still going in, patting her, giving her a kiss and then leaving. Tonight I had John only go into comfort her (helps if she doesn't see the milk lady to convince her she isn't hungry) and after only crying for 15 minutes...I am leaning towards she just wants to play theory.

Forget terrible two's I feel like we are having the terrible six month stage. She is really, really wearing me out. I feel like I never know what she needs anymore, she is always mad at me, that I don't know what to do or when to do things and that overall I am pretty much doing everything wrong. I know this is a common feeling of motherhood and that I will feel this way many times in the future and I know that this too shall pass but until it does...I need some prayer for some strength and patience.