A Rough Day...

Baby Boy is having a rough day.

It started at 5:30 a.m. when he decided to wake for the day after having just woken at 3:30 a.m. to eat. Mama wasn't really pleased with this second wake-up, because it has been pretty consistent for a few weeks now.... Up at 3, then up again at 5. Too early! So Noah had to fuss in his crib for a while. Finally, at 6:30, Mama came and got him and nursed him... well, TRIED. For some reason, Noah wasn't too thrilled about nursing, and cried like his heart was breaking. So Dad had to make him a bottle instead. halfway through the bottle, Noah dozed back to sleep (of course), and Mama put him back in his crib and slunk off to her own bed to try to sleep a bit more.

At 8:15 a.m., after a good hour of extra sleep,Noah awoke for the day. This, in and of itself, is unusual-- The pattern for the last several weeks has been: Wake at 3 and eat, wake at 5 or 6 and eat, then go back down until 7ish, then get up for the day. Because of the fussing-it-out episode, Noah's day was already skewed. Mama should have known this didn't bode well for the rest of the day.

Still, he was a happy, cute boy for the next two hours-- Mama and Baby Boy went for a walk in the gorgeous morning and said "hi" to cars, buses, other kids, and one or two dogs. Noah got to squish a couple of ants as well, one of his favorite outdoor past times. Upon returning home, he got to eat a yummy meal consisting of finger food appetizers and sweet potato/eggplant mush and avocado/yogurt. Yum! Noah then got to play in his room with Mama for several minutes, showing off his increasingly great scooting skills. Following a very usual and set routine, Noah then crawled into Mama's lap after playtime, indicating he was ready for stories, then songs, then naptime. He went down without a hitch, around 10:20 a.m.

At first, he just chattered and kicked the sides of his crib-- the usual. Then, about 15 minutes into it, he began lightly fussing-- again, very normal. What DIDN'T go as expected was his complete meltdown 15 minutes after that, proving to Mama that he was in NO WAY planning on truly napping at this juncture. So, at 11:00, out he came, and was plopped onto the living room floor with toys. Once again happy, now that he wasn't being imprisoned in that crib, Mama was able to get several little things done while Noah scooted, played, chewed, drooled, and generally enjoyed his toys.

After an hour or so of playtime, (and now four hours since his last sleep when he usually goes only two), Mama decided to nurse him. Noah bit a few times, got his feelings hurt when Mama pulled him away and gave him a few seconds of "non nursing" time to try to gently teach him not to bite, and cried once again like his heart would break. Eventually he settled down to nurse for a few more minutes (with no more biting), but was distracted and uninterested in finishing. Mama figured he wasn't hungry, so she once again brought him into his room for the wind-down playtime. This time, however, Noah wasn't cheerful-- he was whiny, upset, inconsolable-- and Mama had to try to nurse him once again, since it seemed he was mad she had stopped. He nursed for a few more minutes, but then stopped, so she sat him up to play and he once again cried and cried.

Now at the end of her rope, Mama sat in the rocking chair with him to do the storytime/songtime all over again, crying a bit herself as every time she finished a book and tried to put it down, he would burst into fresh tears. Clearly, this little man was EXHAUSTED, and needed to sleep. Mama tried to sing the usual songs through increasing tears of her own, and felt a glimmer of hope when he made motions to lean toward his crib, the usual sign he was ready to be put down. He even smiled at her when she gave him his lovey, finished her song, and crept out of the room.

Mama finished her own cry out in the living room, and Noah seemed to be calm and ready to really let himself crash. Wiping her eyes, Mama settled herself by doing a bit of handwork and she waited. For fifteen minutes, Noah did the chatter/kick thing... and all seemed to be going well. Until.... as time went on, his chatter turned to fuss, which turned to cries, which turned to sobs-- all the while, Mama feeling utterly helpless because the only thing this baby really NEEDED was to let go and SLEEP.

...And here it is: one hour later. Now FIVE hours since Noah's last sleep. He has been crying, and standing, and sitting, and fussing, and tossing and turning-- and can't seem to get to a place where he will let himself crash. And a day that began rough at 5:30 a.m. only seems bent on STAYING rough.

*sigh*

Oh well... He's had several great weeks. He was probably due for one of these days sooner than later.

Poor Baby Boy.

Mama is just wishing it could be better for HIS sake.

(E.T.A.: Finally, over an hour after being put in his crib for the second nap-attempt, he is asleep. Hard-fought, hard-won victory. Please sleep deeply and long, Baby Boy...)