Tuesday, June 16, 2009

my little manipulater

Okay, so that's not really a fair title, probably. But I am reminded of a joke my mom uses (and she knows more about children than anyone you will EVER meet): God makes them cute so you don't kill them. ;) Why was I reminded of this, you ask? Well, it started this morning, very early.

Natalie nursed around 5 this morning, then I put her back to bed and dozed off myself. An hour and a half later, she woke up, wailing. Not just crying, mind you--we're talking top-of-the-lungs screeching. She frequently has gas pains (truth be told, she's the gassiest baby I've ever seen. And thanks to Mom's in-home child care business, I've seen quite a few!). So I gave her a dose of Mylicon. Usually this will put her back to sleep.

Not this time though. She continued to sob. I held her. I jiggled her. I walked the floor. I gave her another dose of Mylicon. She finally fell back to sleep...until I put her down. Then she started wailing again.

So I snuggled her next to me in bed, thinking that way I could snag at least a bit more sleep myself. But I didn't have a chance to doze off before she was awake again. By now, she was hungry.

So I fed her, feeling somewhat tired and cranky. Mind you, I wasn't mad at her; obviously she can't help having a tummy ache! But still, I really would have liked to have slept some more. I kind of hoped that when she finished nursing, she would drop back to sleep and maybe I could have a nap before the day started.

Well, she finished nursing, but she did NOT go back to sleep. I put her in her bed, and she looked up at me. And she smiled the most beautiful, light-up-her-whole-face smile you have ever seen. And she cooed. And she continued to smile and coo at me for the next ten minutes.

And yes, all is forgiven. Who could resist? :)