Full Circle

So Greyson's fever went away after about 18 hours, then I had a little tickle in my throat Sunday. Monday I got the chills, had a fever overnight. Tuesday I stayed home sick with fever, cough, snot, aches, but had to be mommy too since babysitter called in sick. Greyson developed a cough/sneeze and we're hoping Dad can stay well to take care of us. Today I'm at work for a break from the madness.

Little Greyson has developed some new bad habits that we're struggling with. First, he doesn't nap for his mommy. Sometimes I think he's better off during the week when I'm not there as much. He naps like a champ for Jenny and his Dad. Maybe it's the bottles. For me, he gets tired, falls asleep on my shoulder, then wakes up as soon as he hits the crib mattress and there's no going back. He'll fall asleep on a walk and I cherish that 10-30 minutes after we get home, but the stroller isn't a comfortable spot and it doesn't last much longer than that. He'll nap on my lap after nursing, which is a great chance for me to relax, but I don't get to nap or do chores. Mike and my mom both tell me that it's because I'm the mama, and not in a bad way. He just expects and gets different things from me. And maybe I'm a little bit of a pushover...

Greyson has also been waking up in the middle of the night. He used to sleep straight through from 8:30 or 9pm until at least 7am. Sometimes 8. Now he goes down around the same time (after lots of back rubbing and singing and lingering) but he started waking up earlier and earlier. At first I thought it was because I started getting him up around 6:40 to feed him before I left for work. So he started getting used to it and waking up around 6:30 on his own. But lately it has moved back to 6am, 5:30, even 3:30am last night! And he will not go back to sleep until I feed him. I learned to feed him in bed and then he usually (usually!) falls asleep and we can all doze together, but this is probably a bad habit to get into. For one, I don't sleep very well with the baby in the bed. I'm aware that he's there, I'm checking on him, and he hogs the bed!

I remind myself daily that this too is a phase. It's all a phase, and it will change, probably soon. It might get better, it might get worse, probably both. But it will be different soon. Maybe it's teething, maybe it's this cold/flu thing, maybe he's hungry and getting my milk supply up.

My cousin's son now sleeps from 7:30 to 7:30 and we are so jealous. It was comforting to have them remind us that they had to put in their time too. He is 1 year old and they said it took 9-10 months to get where they are now. Our latest quandry is sleep-training. Should we "ferberize" the poor kid so that we're not spending time every night and afternoon comforting him as he falls asleep? Wouldn't it be nice to just put him in his crib and walk away? At what cost? This has to be the most controversial topic among parents and non-parents... probably more hotly debated than vaccinations and breastfeeding. I'll do some reading and post about our progress.

Oooh boy, that's a lot off my chest. Must be a purge to help me get better emotionally and physically. Thanks for listening.