Oh.. What a night it has been! Last week, Isabella came down with some mysterious rash. We took her to the doctor, and at that time, they were not sure what it was.. Perhaps an allergic reaction to some unknown source? Now a week later, and Charlotte has contracted the same rash. Last night was horrendous! This rash has been keeping her up. I have been using a gym ball for a long time to rock Charlotte to sleep, and she has gotten used to that. Problem is now and especially with this illness, she has depended on it so much, as she loves the intimacy, that, as soon as we put her in her cot, she starts screaming! I got to a point last night that, I just couldn't bounce her any more. My whole body was aching and I felt like I had no more strength to do so. I tried to let her control cry with the 'pick-up put-down' technique, but her screaming just got worse. She was probably thinking.."hmm, I'll show her for trying to dump me in my cot". Eventually, Scott came to help. By that stage, I was emotionally hanging on, trying not to burst into tears. I also felt nauseated. Wasn't sure if it was my emotions, but with my body feeling like crap, I also thought I may be coming down with something. He crying really tore at my heart string. Made me feel like a bad mum. No rash for me yet, this morning, but my body and my eyeballs are sore. And I actually threw up this morning too. And... No, I'm not pregnant!

The good thing though, is that eventually, she fell asleep. Scott and I both just could not cope physically anymore. I think she might actually be learning though. This morning, she cried. I fed her and put her back in the cot. She cried when I put her in her cot, but this time it didn't last too long. Through this all, she has also learnt to pull herself into standing position. She has been standing for a while, but not usually by pulling herself up. She has also been pulling herself into kneeling position, but was pleasantly surprised that she managed to stand up by herself.