Me: So I have reorganized the kitchen cupboard on the left, did 3 loads of laundry, and finally threw out all my socks and undies that are either too old or have too many holes in them. Whew. I am the ultimate woman. What's up with me lately? I feel like I'm nesting.
I look at husband questioningly until a sense of dread overcomes me.
Me: Wait. You don't think? Good god, I'm not pregnant, am I??
Husband: No, silly. You've been sleeping. You actually have energy to do these things now....
Oh......duh.
Me: Right. Well, I've done enough for a week. You'll find me on Facebook.
It was amazing what a couple of night's rest could do for the soul. And the bags under my eyes. I felt (and sort of) looked like a new woman. My eyes didn't sting at 2pm. I didn't feel like calling it a night just as we finished eating dinner. I felt recharged and quite frankly, it was the best I had felt since giving birth. During baby's sleep strike, I always felt on the cusp of either tears or that I wanted to claw someone's eyes out. In other words, it was like a wicked case of PMS. Combine that with the ever changing hormones and wham bam, you got one sassy mama, and not in the good way. It's not that I was a basketcase all the time. In fact, I had become sort of numb to my own sleep deprevation that when I finally slept a full two nights in a row, I didn't recognize myself.
And so our sleepless wonder slept. And each night I would anticipate a wake up call that didn't come. We would put him down at 7:00pm and he would just sleep. A few nights we had to let him whimper and re-enter his room once or twice, but ultimaltely, sleep overcame him quite quickly and he would stay dreaming until 6am. Every so often we would hear a loud wail, and I would jump out of bed and head to his door only to hear silence before I could even turn the handle. He had actually put himself back to sleep and I would close my eyes and breathe a quiet "thank-you" to the sleep gods that had helped my little one get back to dreamland.
Naps were still a struggle, and as much as I used the technique we had mastered at night, the little one just didn't want to go down during the day. After three days of struggling, (and three days of a very fussy boy around the 5pm mark) baby finally got the whole "nap" concept. Although he never seems to nap for more than hour, putting him down is actually a piece of cake most days (*as I furiuosly knock on wood).
So is this it? Is my blog finished? Is there nothing more I can say about the trials of parenthood? Hell no! Everyday brings something new to discuss, so let me hear it, people! Please comment on your own parenting stories, or share some of your own tribulations with kids (that may or may not even be yours! Hey, props to all the fam members out there. You know who you are!) I will contine writing and as the weekend of the (ex) sleepless wonder's first birthday ends, I can't help but think of what the next year will bring. Stay tuned to find out......
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