he theme of this week’s update is sleep. As in, Sam’s not getting enough. Oh, she’s still sleeping through the night once we get her down, but she seems to have difficulty grasping the concept of naps during the day. She may snooze for a few minutes here and there, but all the expert advice Ger has gathered seems to point to the need for much more than that.
The result is that by 7:30 or so each night, Sam is tired. But she won’t sleep. And because she won’t sleep she gets cranky. And because she’s cranky, she cries. And because she’s crying she can’t get to sleep. Most nights this week this vicious little cycle has spun like a high-powered centrifuge, separating out Sam from any good-natured, happy baby mixture that might have existed before. What’s left is a cranky lump of screaming baby. We spend 2-3 hours each night trying to slow things down and get her to sleep. Here’s some pictures of her in happier times:
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This same cycle spun out of control last Thursday when I tried to take Geralyn out for a birthday dinner. We went to a place we knew was kid-friendly and wouldn’t have a wait for tables, but things still went poorly. There was something about the place (I think it was the smell) that Sam absolutely hated, and right about the time the waitress brought our food (lobster enchiladas for me, a bucket of fried lobster tails for Ger) she started wailing. I think it was the smell, because as soon as I took her outside she quieted down. So as part of my birthday gift to Ger, I dashed back into the restaurant to wolf down my meal, then dashed back out when Sam realized where she was and started bawling. Unfortunately, this meant that Ger had to eat her birthday dinner with a stuffed frog named Francois.
So besides the not napping and the not not crying part, things are going well. Sam continues to grab and suck and drool. In fact, we’re pretty sure she’s teething, which helps explain the increased fussiness. If you run your finger along the inside of her gums, you can feel little bumps pushing their way through. Of course, I’d then have to ask you to take your finger out of my daughter’s mouth.
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