Sleep is for the weak

Update on our sleeping.

Since we fussed it out for a few nights (Brian did the hard work) we made some serious progress. He even slept through the night (7-7ish more or less) a few nights while the Kellys were in town. We think part of it may have been the fact that his second tooth arrived! That's right, we got his two bottom teeth before 2013! Just what I was hoping for!

Unfortunately, the goodness wasn't to last long. We thought we would have at least a short period of calmness, but for the last week or so he's been in some serious pain. It's taken hours to put him down and then he's up crying for hours in the middle of the night. We've had to use some Motrin, and while we hate giving it to him too consistently, it really does seem to be the only thing that allows him (and us) to get some sleep.

We're not sure, but teething is the most likely culprit. Back to the bright red and burning cheeks. This poor soul seems to really suffer. I don't think most kids teethe like this. People probalby think I'm making it up. But I'm not. It doesn't matter how much I hold, rock, swing, shh, the moment he falls asleep his eyes pop back open and he's hysterical. Lo and behold, 20-30 minutes after giving him Motrin, he's out. It doesn't matter if I wait an hour, or two, or more in the middle of the night, so I can't believe that it's just coincidence. On the nights when it's not so bad, he'll wake up and a pacifier put back in will solve the problem and he's out until 7. Other than the hysterical crying for a few hours, we've come a long way! 

HAHAHAHA. The laughter of the sleep deprived.

This post has been an evolving draft this week, and I just got off the phone with Aunt Angela. Have I ever mentioned how much I love having a pediatrician in the family? She confirmed my decision to try and get him to the Dr. tomorrow along with making me feel like even if this is just teething that it is at least on the spectrum of normal.

I've started to come to the realization that we don't have the easiest baby. Things that I've thought were normal, aren't. He's more work than some babies (and less than others, I'm sure). And that's okay. When he is good, which is often, he is fabulous, his smile can light up a room, and he's ours. But it's good to know that we're also not wimps.

This baby stuff is hard work, and people don't always talk about that. But I have sisters in law that I know read this, and down the line (should they have children - no pressure-#iwantmorenephewsandnieces) I don't want them, when they are up at 2am rocking a crying baby thinking, "what am I doing wrong?" The answer is probably, nothing. I wish for them wonderful angel babies, but if they get a normal one, I'll be happy to take one of the 2am shifts.

But because I know this isn't why you came here, I'll add a few kind of bad phone pictures.