Where's the mute button?

If it's not one, it's the other this week. Cate and Maddie have teamed up to ensure that our house is never silent and there is always someone whining or crying. I'm not looking forward to the teen years...

Cate has always been a cryer. Sometimes, she is the happiest and brightest little girl, but if something triggers her to cry it is very difficult to get her back into happy mode for the rest of the day. She always cries when she wakes up in the morning and when she wakes up from a nap. I honestly cannot remember a time when she didn't cry after waking up. Most of the time these days, her crying results in me losing my patience and yelling telling her to stay in her room until she's done crying. This often gets me louder and more obnoxious crying. Don't get me wrong, I've tried the soft and gentle approach, the cheery sunshine approach, the ignoring approach - none of them worked. Her daycare provider has told me that she's never met a kid who cries so much, and yet is so happy the rest of the time. I'm going to make a point to talk to her doctor about it at our next visit since it seems a bit ridiculous for a 2 year old to be so upset for no reason.

Maddie, on the other hand, had been a perfect little baby up until a couple weeks ago when she came down with an ear infection. Now the little imp has gone clingly! If I dare put her down, the squawking starts and inevitably turns into a full blown cry. Although, sometimes when I hold her she is still really fussy. She has started drooling and putting her fingers in her mouth, so some teeth may be on the way, but if I had to guess, it looks like her reflux is getting worse. She throws herself back and arches her back and has also been spitting up alot. I'm almost tempted to start solids a little early to help settle it down. Thank goodness the projectile vomiting has ended though... knock on wood...

Today is the first day of a long weekend with an open schedule and I'm hoping things start to turn around soon so we can enjoy the beautiful weather that has finally decided to grace us with its presence. Best of all, hubby is installing our new dishwasher as we speak! I'm so done with washing dishes my hand...