Soldiering On

The in-laws came, the in-laws went. All in all, they were very respectful of my time and space, and considering that the weather kept us cooped up at home for a lot of the weekend, the visit went really well. The kids are at an age where they are less needy of me and more willing to go to their grandparents, aunt, and uncle, and that makes everyone feel good. There was much less judgment than I expected, and some nice compliments on my parenting and, of course, how wonderful the kids are.

I was a bit (OK, a lot) short tempered on Sunday morning, though, because I barely got any sleep on Saturday night. Riley was up for a solid chunk of the night. He woke up screaming at 1:45 a.m., seemed to be comforted by a hug and reassurances that Maddie was in the crib next to him, I was next door, and he had his froggie to keep him safe. An hour later, same thing: screaming. That time, the comforting only worked for 10 minutes, and he was screaming again. After a couple of more back-and-forths of no more than five minutes' down time, I brought him to bed with me. He gouged me in the eyes ("Mama, ojos.") and pulled my hair ("Mama, hair.") for 45 minutes, then went to sleep. I slept fitfully until he was up for good at 6:00 a.m. Ugh. Long/short night.

I had hoped that it was an isolated incident, but last night he woke up at 2:45 a.m. This time, he just talked to himself for about ten minutes, the started to cry for me. I decided to go hardcore since he didn't seem scared, just desirous of time with me at a totally inappropriate hour. It was pretty much return to Ferber, with five minute crying intervals. In only (only!) had to go in and comfort him three times, but he was up and futzing around for an hour and a half. He'd be quiet for five minutes, the cry for thirty seconds, quiet for a few minutes, cry for a minute, etc. So I wasn't sleeping. Finally, it was all quiet for good at around 4:30 a.m., and he slept until 6:30 a.m., then woke up happy. Ugh again. Another long/short night. I hope tonight is better.

La la la la. Boring, boring, boring to read about sleepless babies.

Riley loves all things gadgetry. He likes cell phones and cameras and remote controls and computers. My in-laws were very indulgent, letting him hold their cell phones and push buttons on their cameras, something I never do. As I was going through my kitchen junk drawer last night looking for my cell phone charger, I found John's old cell phone. I decided to give it to Riley. He is thrilled beyond belief and has been carrying it around nonstop. When I ask him who he's calling, he'll say, "Ba!" or "Moo!" and open the phone and put it to his ear. It's sweet. I told him the phone was his and his alone, that is used to be his daddy's, and that he did not have to share it—even with Maddie—unless he wanted to. (She has a special purse with the same rules; the gender stereotyping there is a topic for another post!) I asked his paternal grandparents to get both him and Maddie kiddie digital cameras for their second b-days. I think they'll have a blast with them.

So now it's back to work, a new week, an upcoming weekend with no visitors. I'm already thinking that if the weather is good (read: not snowing), I'll take the kids to the zoo. They are really into birds right now. Whenever we go outside, they say, "Birdie? Birdie?" and scan the sky. I need to get a bird feeder to put outside our kitchen window. During breakfast, birds will sometimes happen by, which causes the kiddos much excitement. When the birds fly away, I get plaintive cries of, "Mama? More birdie? More birdie?" They don't understand that I can't make the birds stick around. A feeder would help.

And so is life on this first Monday in March. Pretty mundane, but somehow it turned it into a rather long post.