There's no Bitching Post over here, but since we're trying to get it going I posted here instead of at BB. I need to vent. :( And I need help, but with so many different things that I don't even know how to ask for it. So I'm just going to spew, and maybe if some of you kind, wise mamas can help me out, I will end up with some scrap of my sanity left.

First of all, we seem to be RIGHT back where we were 7 months ago regarding sleep. The way we *finally* got dd to sleep was to let her cry for 1-2 minutes, then go in and start over. Bedtime was a breeze ever since, though she had 4-6 night wakings, and for the last month, a 5am wake-up.

Then she either got sick or started teething again - still not sure which. (Dd teethes for about a decade per tooth. Grrr.) Bedtime refusal came back, but now she vomits if she cries for even a minute. She's not doing it for attention; she's been vomiting when she's happy and in our arms, too - ped says it's a sensitive gag reflex. So she won't sleep, crying makes her vomit everything she's eaten (she's now essentially gone without food for three consecutive meals, since she's thrown up each meal since breakfast, which she didn't want to eat.) I am sick and tired of showering everybody off, stripping the crib, scrubbing the carpet - this kid eats a lot, so clean-up is no small job. And I cannot being myself to let her cry knowing that she will throw up her dinner (and I will have to clean it all), just to try again afterwards and have her STILL not go to sleep and start the whole process over again.

When she does fall asleep, she won't let me put her back into the crib. She will with dh, but if it's me she wakes up screaming the minute I try to put her down - and then we're back to vomitland. (Dh can't take all the wakeups on the nights before he works, so something has to give here.)

On top of that, she has been a big ol' fuss-head, which we have been spared until now. Everything she wants, she wants NOW - she doesn't even give us a chance to say yes or no before she fusses for it. And she's been clingy (which she always is when she's not feeling well), which I can handle, but at the same time she's hitting me!

Diaper changes are a nightmare. Some babies cry, some twist and turn, some kick. Mine is a fighter. She locks her thighs together and she grabs our hands when we try to separate them and she blocks us at every turn. It's like playing Tekken. Diaper changes are taking forever (and she's in fitted cloth, AND she's having 5-6 dirty ones a day, so they're happening ALL the time) and have become a major PITA. Sometimes distractions work, but most of the time they don't.

So she's sleep-deprived, which makes her even more hyper and fussy, she's running a fever (which the doc says could be teething or viral), she's vomiting a lot (which the doc says could be teething/ gag reflex or viral), she's got diarhhea, she's throwing tantrums, hitting and crying for no apparent reason (yes, I know that's not unusual, but it's such a dramatic change for her.) Oh, and mealtimes have become a joke, too. She's throwing her food and spoons AT me. Oh, and she won't stop grabbing my glasses, which I will admit is offically driving me bonkers.

She's calling all the shots, which makes me feel like we need to set some tougher limits, but I don't know how and I don't want a "Stop that!" atmosphere. I must've told her a hundred times today that she couldn't do or have something...all about different somethings.

She thinks all of the above is an absolute riot. She laughs so hard that she starts tearing. She runs around like the Tasmanian Devil, alternately crying and laughing, switching back and forth on a dime, and Mommy is just stupefied. I just stand there and look at her half the time, dumbfounded.

Toddlerhood. Aaaarrrrggghhh. Tell me this is mostly the teeth - or the virus - or something...that it will pass before she's three. And anything anyone can say about how to handle - or not handle - any of these things would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you for letting me write my novel here.
Jude