Remember when I said Allie has gotten so much easier, and I went as far as to proclaim that she is happy 75% of the time? I would like to retract that statement. While she has gotten easier than she was a year ago, I was far too optimistic about the actual percentages. And for some reason, nights have gotten rough again. Just as she is finally consistently staying dry at night, she has started waking up and crying that cry that can only be described as inspired by the devil. Last week, she was up several times, crying and making us want to jab chopsticks in our ears, and Jeff said, "I can't stand her." And even though that sounds awfully harsh, cold and unfeeling, I couldn't help but agree. I certainly couldn't stand her then, either.
Last night really took the cake, though. As we were watching our nightly Olympic coverage upstairs with Jeff's parents, it came to our attention that someone was crying. When I determined it was Allie, I lay down next to her and asked her what was wrong. "I don't know," she blubbered. Great. I don't know the cure for that. I stayed for a few minutes, assuring her everything was fine, and left with her going back to sleep. Or so we thought. A few minutes later, she came out of the room crying, this time complaining about her ear hurting. And listening to her cry, you'd think someone HAD been jabbing chopsticks in there. I gave her a little ibuprofen, hoping mostly for the placebo effect to kick in, and sent her back to bed. Not five minutes later she was back, complaining that the medicine wasn't working and she needed more. I coaxed her back to bed again, telling her she needed to give it more time.
This went on for a while until Jeff and I finally went to bed (after watching the American gymnasts salvage the bronze medal!), and we hoped the worst was over. It wasn't. Five or six times throughout the night this scene continued. At one point she decided to sleep on our floor, but that didn't last either. And the crying was just terrible. Jeff and I took turns trying to reason with her, telling her we could either take her to the hospital or she needed to go back to sleep. Finally, Jeff explained to her that he had to work early in the morning and she needed to leave him alone (this was much nicer than the "I can't stand her" comment from before). I guess that did the trick, because around 4:00 we were able to fall asleep for good. Unfortunately, Kyla woke up at 6:50 and started her morning ritual of crying until I feed her everything in the kitchen.
Isn't motherhood great?
11 comments:
LOL :o) It is so nice to hear that there are other kids out there that can be just as crazy and obnoxious as mine! Seriously, you wonder what must be going on inside their little heads sometimes??? Hope things are better tonight!
Yes, so great! I too find comfort in hearing that I am not the only one who has those occasional "can't stand her" moments. Especially when they are being ridiculous.
Truly, we must get Ethan and Allie together. So good to hear that somweone else's child in in the same phase and that he isn't just possesed :). It's the same for him - he will be awesome for a few days, even a couple weeks, and just when you think you are in the clear ... dum, duh, dum, dum ... toddlerhood strikes back. Hope your nights improve and we really need to all get together!
SO, you're saying the sleeping thing never really gets too much better? I think Berkely is a spirited child like Allie! I think Mom's should have been granted some supernatural power that allows us to function on very minimal sleep, with no headaches or stomach aches!
I was hearing that wonderful cry as you described it. Sorry about such the rough night! Yech! My only hope is that you'll have loads of good advice for me when I hit that stage. Your Kyla comment made me smile. Especially as I pictured her opening her mouth as wide as the "wide mouthed frog" so that I could feed her everything I could find in the kitchen. Love her.
Oh how I don't miss those days...I am starting over with Jaxan but once you get her to sleep she really has been a good sleeper.
Not so with Amy...MUSIC was a live saver...we put music in her room at night and it was so calming to her...might try it. I have used it on Jaxan.
I'm just glad I am not the only one that is going through this! Motherhood, you gotta love it.
Wow. Sounds like a fun night. ugh! You mean my "good sleeping baby" may start to wake up again for other problems? yikes. Looks like your camping expedition was fun!! Amazing how much crap you have to take for one weekend, huh? Greg and I were LOL at Damon's comment about getting out of the house to see the beautiful outdoors. Love that kid!
Yeah, I think nighttime wakefulness/crying torture is one of THE WORST things about parenthood. Good luck.
Thanks for giving me that to look forward to:)
Krystal, I absolutely LOVE that you shared this story. I was laughing so hard at Jeff's "I can't stand her" comment. All parents with toddlers can relate. And if they can't then they're just fooling themselves.
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