Life has been a little rough for Isaac for the last few days. (And, therefore, for the rest of us.)
On Thursday night Craig and I were planning to go see a show, so my mom generously agreed to come up to babysit Isaac. It was going to be the first time we'd gone out alone since Isaac's birth, and we decided we weren't quite ready to leave him with a stranger. To make the most out of the 100-mile trip, my mom came up on Thursday morning and watched Isaac all day long while Craig and I went to work.
Isaac likes my mom and did pretty well with her during the day, although she couldn't get him to nap so by evening he was tired and cranky. Mostly he was desperate to see me. When I did get home, he literally shouted "Ma! Ma! Ma! Ma!" over and over, each punctuated with an index finger jab to the center of my chest. After that, Isaac wouldn't let me out of his sight -- he didn't even want Craig to put on his pajamas or read him a story like he usually does.
But of course I did go out of his sight, didn't I?
He fell asleep in my arms quickly and gratefully about 7:30 p.m., and we left for the show about 8:30. He woke up at 10:30 and would not go back to sleep. In fact, my mom called us about midnight and asked us to come home. Isaac wasn't crying, exactly, but he was waiting by the front door and saying, "Mama? Mama? Mama?" Maybe it was this double abandonment that sowed the bitter harvest to come ...
The next day we drove down to stay with my parents to celebrate Christmas. We've been here for two nights so far, and I have to say they've been two of the worst nights of sleep I've had in recent memory. We've stayed here many times before, but this time Isaac is taking it badly -- he wakes up four or five times a night, usually very upset. At one point last night he cried so hard that Craig and I were actually scared. We both went into Isaac's room to reassure him, and I held him, yet his screams didn't diminish. He cried for ten minutes while we wondered if he was in pain, if he was sick, if something was really wrong. He finally fell back asleep when I nursed him -- but only for an hour before he woke up again. Both nights I've ended up taking him into bed with me, although neither of us sleep very well that way -- at least he sees me when he wakes up, which seems to reduce his panic.
So what's the problem? Is it lingering insecurity caused by a day and a night with a babysitter instead of Mama? Is he more aware of his surroundings and therefore more sensitive to sleeping in a house that isn't his own? Is he teething? Is he allergic to dust? Is he getting sick?
And in two days how is he going to react to a five-hour plane ride and a week's stay with his other grandparents?
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