CIO sucks

CIO - that's online parent-speak for "Cry It Out." It's just what it says, a method of getting the baby back to sleep by letting him cry his sad little eyes out. Well, it sucks. We gave it an honest-to-goodness try last night for the first time. We've kind of tried in the past, but usually caved in after a few minutes. But I'm getting ahead of myself ...

About a month and a half ago, Alex got sick for the first time. Before then he was sleeping through the night, but after he got sick he started waking up several times a night. Then, about two weeks ago, he got another ear infection. Ever since then, his sleeping has gotten even worse. With one night being the exception, every single night for the past two weeks, Alex has ended up on the couch or in bed with us. He may wake up off and on the first couple of hours, but then it's like clockwork: at 2:30 a.m. he starts screaming crying and will not stop no matter how long we stand there and pat his bottom or give him his pacifier. Andy suspects that Alex has got us figured out - he knows that we will eventually give up. I'm not so sure he's that smart yet, but I don't have a better explanation.

Anyway, last night we were at our wits end. At 2:30 on the dot, he started crying. We lay (laid?) there in bed and listen to him cry. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. By this time, it was blood-curdling, on-the-verge-of-vomiting screaming. And crying always sounds worse over a baby monitor, for some reason. Andy caved. He brought Alex to bed. The crying must have worn him out, though, because he slept very soundly the second he hit our bed (he usually wakes up a few more times, just for fun). For about an hour after being brought to our bed his breathing was staggered, punctuated by hiccups; the way you do after a good, hard cry. I felt a little guilty, but I also have visions of trying to convince a seven-year-old little boy that it's not normal to still sleep in the bed with his parents. Besides, if Alex ever wants a little brother or sister, he has got to cut this out. 'Cause it ain't happening otherwise.

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Worst. Night. Of. Sleep. Ever.

Last night was terrible!! Alex woke up about four times, then at about four a.m., he woke up screaming bloody murder. I'm amazed the neighbors didn't call the cops (of course, two houses on our street are owned by cops ...). Anyway, Alex was screaming his little head off. I think he had gas because when he screamed particularly hard, he would sqeeze out a fart. It would have been funny - if it hadn't been 4 a.m. So we gave him some Tylenol and Mylicon and settled on the couch. The three of us slept on the couch together for the first time since he was a newborn. It would have been nice - if we didn't both have to get up and go to work two hours later. On a lighter note, we attended our first Water Babies class. It was a blast. Alex loves, loves, loves the water. He was splashing and kicking and only cried a tiny little bit when we put him underwater. The third time we dunked him, he spit up in the pool. Oh well. I guess that's to be expected. At least he had a good time! Anybody think, though, there could be a connection between the swimming and the 4 a.m. screaming? Does swimmer's ear occur that quickly? Is there usually a fever with swimmer's ear? Do I need to buy a parenting book or what?

Sleep ... finally!

For a while there, Alex was a dream baby (well, actually, he still is). He was sleeping through the night - every night - and eating like a champ. But then, about a month or so ago, he got sick. Not just the sniffles, but a fever and a virus that caused blisters in his throat. He projectile vomited for the first time. Anyway, he got over the illness quickly, but hasn't been quite the same ever since. He has been a horrible sleeper; on Sunday night, he woke us up about six times in the night (Andy and I each got up three times). But then last night, we had an honest-to-goodness full night of sleep! It was amazing. Even more amazing than when he first did it months ago. But we still need to figure out the eating thing. Before he got sick, he ate everything we gave him except peas and apples (I know, weird). He ate carrots and sweet potatoes and prunes and more. His favorite food, though, was peaches. Ever since he got sick, he will only eat peaches. Anything else we give him, he cries and shakes his head back and forth and slaps the spoon out of our hands. He won't even eat baby food that has peaches mixed with something else (like "fruit medley"). And, yes, we have tried airplane motions and noises. He thinks they are funny until the plane comes in for a landing. Any recommendations?? Anyone???

Parenthood

It never ceases to amaze me how sometimes the smallest tasks are so much more challenging with a child. I thought going into this whole parenting thing that the biggest challenges I would face would be the ones you see on TV - a baby that won't stop crying, explosive poopies, and never getting enough sleep. And, yes, it's true, I feel like I just can't catch up on sleep, Alex has basically proven me wrong. If he cries, all we have to do is pat his behind, pick him up or give him a pacifier. And while he has had his share of nasty number twos, none has been horrifying or unmanageable. The challenges we've encountered have been more dealing with run-of-the-mill chores. Yesterday, for example, I realized we desperately needed to order new checks. Alex had just woken up from a short nap, so he wanted some attention. I held him while I logged on the computer to order the checks. I managed to keep him from banging on the keyboard, but only because he thought the inner flesh of my arm would be a good place to chomp down with those six teeth. Ouch! I still have a bruise. Then the stupid website would not accept my routing and account numbers as valid. So I called. I got an automated voice message system. Now, is there anything more annoying than that? Anyway, I was in the process of ordering checks and the robotic voice was informing me of the option to purchase a variety of designs. Alex started to babble and the voice stops short and says, "Do you wish to end this call?" No! So I completed the rest of the call by craning my neck and turning my head as far away from Alex as possible so the voice wouldn't mistake Alex's babble for my request. I don't want to end up with 20 boxes of kitten checks for Andy and Janice BLA MOB BA Dyer. Whew, I finally finished the call, checks ordered. I looked down and at some point, Alex had thrown up (not spit up; this was remnants from his lunch of carrots) all over my shirt and rubbed the top of his head in it. Ahh, the sweet (sour) smell of parenthood.

An Addendum ...

... to my last post: I'm sure some paparazzo are very caring, loving people. Who knows, maybe they even volunteer at their local homeless shelter. I just used that as an example. I know that a person's career isn't his or her only contribution to society. Ok, so no throwing virtual eggs at me if I've offended you and your camera-wielding ways.

No Pictures ... But a List!

Ok, so I've been terrible lately about updating this blog. My dear friend, who has a 7-week-old, has been doing waaay better than me about her blog. What does that say about me? Sigh. Oh, well, I have a good reason. Sort of. When Andy got his job, we celebrated by dropping a week's paycheck on a new camera. We love the Canon Rebel, but the bad part is the memory card holds too many pictures. We've taken more than 300 since we got the camera and haven't uploaded a single one. Yesterday I tried to upload some pictures, but couldn't find the USB cord. We'll get there eventually. In the meantime, here's another one of my lists to keep you entertained ...

Things That Surprise Me, Even After 8 Months of Motherhood

1. High Cost of Food. I know that the price of groceries has gone up; blame it on biofuels, China and India, soaring oil prices, or whatever. But I never knew feeding a baby would get expensive. Alex gets four bottles of formula a day (my frozen breastmilk ran out about a week after I stopped pumping), baby food twice a day, and a bottle of juice once a day. The formula runs about $25 per week (and we go with the less expensive powder, not prepared stuff). The baby food about $15 per week. When I was in college, I could feed myself for $35 a week (it was a stretch, but I could do it). Nobody told me feeding a baby could cost almost as much as feeding an 18-year-old girl!

2. Pride. I knew I would feel pride at some point, I just had no idea that I would experience such strong pride at this early stage. It didn't matter that no one else was around to witness it, but when my baby army-crawled, slept through the night unswaddled, and drank all 5 ounces of juice for the first time (all in the last week), I couldn't have been more pleased.

3. Happiness/Sadness. It's funny how some parenthood moments truly are bitter sweet. Today Alex moved up to a new room at daycare. I was happy - he's getting older, he's becoming more developmentally independent, he's going to learn new skills from being around babies that are further along. But I was sad - he had a fantastic teacher in his first classroom, he's going to probably get less one-on-one attention, and he's going to be in a room with some babies who can walk (yikes!).

4. His Own Good. I'm surprised how easy it is to do things for Alex that I know are for his own good. I don't like to see my baby cry, but I will stick an aspirator up his nose twenty times in a row if that's what it takes to get all that mucus out and let him breath a little easier. He hates it and he hates me for doing it (not really), but I know it's best for him and that's what is most important.

5. Speaking of Snot. I never imagined how much it would suck to have a sick baby. I don't mean a seriously ill baby (I cannot begin to imagine the sorrow and anxiety that might cause), but a baby with a cold that just won't go away. I feel so bad for the little guy when I hear him cough or hear his wheezy breathing over the monitor. We do everything we can (saline drops, baby Vicks, two humidifiers, vapor outlet plugs, baby Tylenol/Motrin, warm baths, aspirator, etc., etc.), but you can't do much besides try to make him as comfortable as possible. But that's still not enough! Come, already, somebody invent a cure for the (all-too-common) cold!

6. Ralphie's Mom. Many moons ago I wrote in this blog that I wanted to be like Ralphie's mom from "A Christmas Story." I thought she was the image of a perfect parent - firm, but loving. Little did I know that I would be a lot like Ralphie's mom, just not quite in the way I pictured. Ralphie's mom had not had a hot meal in something like 10 years. We'll I'm working on it. The kid just knows when Mommy and Daddy are about to eat and he loves to get fussy just in time to spoil it. We're not sure if it is the sound of plates clanking or the smell of the food, but he has got it figured out somehow.

7. Magical Moment. I thought that by now the novelty of being excited to pick Alex up at the end of the day would have worn off. Boy, was I wrong. The best part of every day is the drive to the daycare, walking down the hall, and seeing my sweet baby boy playing in his classroom. I get all giddy and excited like it's the first day of school and I'm wearing the coolest outfit around. Ok, so maybe a different kind of excitement, but it really is fantastic. I know I probably walk in there with the goofiest grin on my face, but the staff all seem to understand. After all, who wouldn't be excited to see that cute chubby-cheeked face after a long day of work?

8. I Want to Make the World a Better Place. This doesn't require much explanation. I feel now that I have a child, my life has more value and I have more responsibility to build a more just world for my son and for all children. I know, sounds cheesy and a bit lofty, but I do. I just wonder how parents who have truly pointless jobs (like paparazzo who follow Paris Hilton around) justify their work. I know, I'm being judgmental, but seriously, does having pictures of some celebrity's cellulite do anything to create a better world for kids?