child abuser???

just to drive home the manipulation we're talking about here...

today i receive a phone call. about 20+ phone calls and 17 texts to be exact. oh. and 8 voicemails. all from b. this is fairly typical. he does this often for things such as he sees a squirrel, needs me to call a realtor for a house he saw while driving, lost something, or wants to know what's for dinner. so i wasn't completely alarmed. i call him back. apparently precious told his mother he's scared of me. because i yell at him (god forbid) and once grabbed his arm supposedly. i won't deny the yelling. i'm a yeller. but i don't yell all that often and i certainly don't yell at him anymore than i do my own children. kids do dumb stuff and that's my way of making them aware of my frustration and correcting the behavior. also, i can never remember in the YEAR that i've known them grabbing this kid. or laying a hand on him period. although grabbing his arm doesn't seem like an evil thing to me personally. but it was the way this was handled. i was interrogated by my own boyfriend and the father of my 5 week old baby that he leaves me with on a continuous basis. with no supervision. *gasp* yeah. and if this child was not so manipulative, i'd blame his mother. or rack my brain as to what i would've possibly done to bother poor precious. but we're talking about the kid that i get up and dressed half the week every week. that i drive across town to school, leaving my own child with the neighbor, twice a week. that i have bought clothes and shoes for, taken to his favorite restaurants when we spend time together, and made him feel like the essential part of our family that any child is. this is the same little snot that runs and cries wolf to his mother just to stir things up. and yes, he's that powerful. everyone around him (aside from me) has given him that power. and now here i sit. accused. and beyond pissed. i guess this cuts out all that driving twice a week, now doesn't it? wouldn't want the risk of my ripping his arm off when he asks for a poptart, now would we?

one of the cool kids now

i finally got my computer fixed and decided to join the cool kids table and start a blog. yes, i've finally emerged from beneath my rock. with so many daily occurances to rant and rave about, laugh about, cry about, etc, i figured all moms should have one these days, right? speaking of kids, i feel i should provide an overview. i have 4 of them. yes, 4. and i consider the fact that i'm not typing this from a prison cell or a padded room quite an achievement. my oldest, p, is 8. p is an amazing big brother, a great swimmer, and can read your emotions like a book. he has adhd, talks non-stop, and pretty much has the ability to drive me up the wall. but he's the sweetest most compassionate child i've ever met. he's followed by my boyfriend's son, pickles, 6. pickles is spunky, silly, and always up for a challenge. i don't think that kid is scared of anything! he's also over-indulged and extremely spoiled, which can be quite a challenge. we have him half the time, and i try terribly hard to be a great influence in his life...this is really the hardest thing i've ever taken on. then comes funky, who's 5...and my only girl. she's my little sidekick, is girly and sassy, and just like me. feel no sympathy for this one, she runs circles around all these boys. and most recently we've added the mav, who was born nov 08. quite a run-down, eh?

so tonight i find myself cradling mavo till my arms hurt. he has colic, which is "doctor" for "really, really fussy baby". he fooled us, you see. he was the perfect baby for the first 2 weeks. nursed well, slept well (mostly)...i bragged to everyone i saw about what an easy baby he was. then something happened. he stopped pooping. as in, from after every single feeding to every 2, 3, 4 days. my perfectly happy child went out the window. they swear breastfed babies don't get constipated. i'd like to see scientific research. either way, this lack of pooping thing makes him terribly gassy, which was originally blamed on me. i drank/ate too much milk/milk products? tomato sauce? onions? i cut out half my diet, but this only made us BOTH scream and cry continuously. only to finally be told that he has colic. i was stoked to be told i could have dairy again, but admit that i squirmed a little when they mentioned that this could last another 7 weeks! he has also decided he's a night owl and chooses to stay awake until sometimes as late as 2am. i realize this is where i'm described as an overly-permissive parent who is discussed negatively at strangers' dinner tables. but he very well may be my last. and i want every second of this baby-ness. so he is exclusively breastfed, i co-sleep with him, and he's pretty much held or carried non-stop all day. part of me knows this isn't helping. most of me does. but i also know how fast this time goes, and i must shamefully admit that i'm attached. probably more than he is. so i'll blog. at 1am. with a kid lounged in a boppy on my lap. i swear i used to have a life.