The Rainiest of Days

This morning I took Ariel to the doctor's office for a follow-up appointment regarding a cough she has had for several months; the same cough that wakes her up almost nightly and sounds as if she is choking on something.  Still, she checked out fine, there is nothing wrong.  Great.  The nurse practitioner smiled at me knowingly, and joked that her and her friend used to pick their kids up from daycare and call it, 'kennel cough' as all of the kids were hacking their lungs out.  Nothing to be done.
From there we headed to the library and had a busy morning playing with grandma and trains.  Ariel ate an early lunch, had some more play, and then seemed like she would be ready to go down for her nap.  Nope.  Grandma left, and Ariel decided to do battle with me.  She would throw her soother down, cry out for me, then giggle and run to the other side of the crib to 'play tag' once I entered the room.  When I laid her down, she would cover her eyes for Peek-a-boo.  If I tried to rock her, she would throw her soother down on the ground and dive for it out of my arms.  I am normally pretty even tempered, and can put up with what I consider to be 'a lot' of nap time shenanigans without losing my cool, but today was different.  I had set myself up by expecting to read through the pile of information from the hospital that has been waiting for Dan and I.  The booklet on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is one piece of literature in particular that I have been eyeing for some time.
After an hour and a half of 'playing' with Ariel in her crib - I gave up.  In between tending to her, I had somehow managed to finish reading the booklet, but I had not had a chance to deal with the emotions it brought up.  Once again alone, I went in to get Ariel dressed for a stroller walk so we could both get some fresh air while the rain let up, and then maybe she would be ready for a nap when we got back.  Maybe - hopefully.  Well, she fought me at every turn.  She did not want her diaper changed, or her socks on, or any of it - what she needed was a nap!  As she pushed away from me by digging her heals into my pregnant belly, at that point I gave up.  I put her back in her crib, left the room, and we both cried.  Not for very long.  Just enough for me to calm down.  I changed my clothes into sweats, then went in to get her, and somehow managed to get her ready for our walk without a problem.  We were back to being on the same team.  As the garage door opened, I could see the huge drops of water falling heavily from the sky, but I was not about to back out now.  I threw on a hat, put a blanket over Ariel's legs, and we were off for a walk in the cool, misty, fall air.  Within the first block, I felt so much better - we both did.  Sometimes all you need is a little fresh air, and some room to breathe.