Miss Manners and Mr. Overachiever

Lily is now saying "sorry" when she does things like run into us unintentionally which is very sweet. She also says "bless you" whenever someone sneezes. And, I've seen her pat her friends' backs when they were either upset or not feeling well. I hesitate to even write it, but she has not bitten anyone in quite some time. I really think that the underlying factor here is that she has developed a sense of empathy. I'm really happy (and relieved) about this, and so I felt the need to share.

If Lily could direct this empathy to anyone right now, it would have to be to her father. Carl has been having a rough time lately due to many stressors that continue to be in his/our lives. Although the terrible schedule of last year has thankfully passed us by, there are new equally unpleasant factors that have slipped right in to take its place. Currently Carl is studying for Step 2 of his Boards. He has a one week break in between his rotations this week, so he is studying for 11 hours straight each day. Nice break, huh? The exam is scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving, so the next couple of months should be fun. Also, Carl has an away elective scheduled so we will be apart for a couple of weeks, which neither one of us is looking forward to. (Although I am really looking forward to the 2-week vacation I will have when I join him in St. Louis - very much needed!) All in all, I think realities are just setting in about the number of changes that are approaching in our lives...getting the house ready for sale, learning where we are going to live!, finding a new house, new jobs for both of us, etc.

Unfortunately, Lily has not shown us any empathy or mercy at night lately. For some reason, the past week or so has been really rough at night. Last night, she woke up around 1:30 am and decided that it was time to get up for the day. It is so funny when you are past the infant stage of sleepless nights and used to getting a full night's sleep, I honestly didn't know exactly what to do when she insisted on getting up. We ended up going downstairs and reading a couple of books. She asked to eat, and I said "No, it's time for sleeping" which caused a major meltdown that I was just too tired to address. I think that her commotion woke up Terra who decided that she needed to go outside to go the bathroom. I then vaguely remember hearing Carl trekking down the stairs, putting on Terra's harness and leash and opening the front door to take her out. I must have dosed during the short walk because I did not hear them come back in. But, Lily must have heard them because in my sleepy stupor, I heard Lily climbing up the stairs and opening the bedroom door. I quickly followed her up, and we all laid back down to go to sleep. A couple requests for juice (which we keep next to the bed) and all said and done, about two hours later, we we all back to sleep. This is just very atypical behavior for her, and we're not sure what to make of it. She has been restless for the past few nights, but last night was definitely the worst. Like most things with little ones, we'll probably only figure out what is wrong now at some later date when we are past this issue and dealing with an entirely different one. And so it goes.

Carl and I have been doing our best through all of this to laugh at the little annoying things and make a big deal out of the truly important things, like stealing an hour this afternoon to go to a Thai restaurant together and blowing bubbles on the deck with Lily tonight. These things really help us to keep perspective on life. We must also acknowledge that Carl's hard work has been paying off. Carl has been invited to 3 residency interviews so far, including Washington University and University of Chicago, both top medical schools in the country. Awesome!