The baby has a new game. It’s called “soother, soother, who’s got the soother” and involves him waking up every 20 minutes to an hour all night, whimpering because he can’t find his soother. I give it to him, he rolls over and goes back to sleep, I’m up for 20 more minutes grumbling. Lather, rinse, repeat. We played that from midnight to four in the morning, give or take, then Lucas decided to serenade the house. For an hour. Not crying, not even fussing, just hollering to enjoy the sound of it echoing through the darkened but no-longer-sleeping house.
I finally nursed him around 5:15, just to stuff something in his mouth to keep him quiet, and he promptly fell back asleep.
I did not.
Around 6:15, I got Beloved up. As he was showering, I fell into a fitful sleep. At around 6:45, a cacophony not unlike the sound of 150 recycling boxes full of wine bottles jarred me awake. The neighbours one door over are getting a new roof today, and it was the sound of a dumpster being installed in their driveway. Joy.
Beloved goes to work, I get the boys ready for school. Garbage leaks mysterious sticky substance all over the kitchen floor as I change the bag. Syrup gets knocked over and spills onto the table. Dog tracks what can only be her own poop she has stepped in across the floor. The baby is miserable, won’t let me put him down but complains when I pick him up. Doesn’t even enjoy his breakfast, which he usually loves. I manage a four minute shower, and he howls throughout it. I pull on a fresh shirt, pick him up, and he spits up all over me.
Get all three boys in coats because it is one degree above freezing this morning (no, really!) and out the door, only a couple of minutes late for the bell.
Get back to the house with Lucas, give him a bottle and bring him upstairs for a desperately needed nap. Rock him and wrestle with him for 30 minutes as he resists sleep to the point of tears. (His, not mine.) Remain remarkably calm despite growing headache from clenched jaws. Baby has been asleep just long enough for me to consider putting him in his cradle when goddamn roofers start throwing what sounds like anvils from top of roof into empty metal dumpster. You can imagine the noise. I jump, baby jumps and cries… and we start all over again with the wrestling and the rocking.
Finally get baby to sleep, creep downstairs, microwave cold cup of coffee because in the fray I’ve managed only one cup so far… and there is no milk.
Whimper.
Edited to add: nap lasted 18 minutes. Long enough to write this post, pee and empty five plates from the dishwasher.
Whimper.
Wow, you work fast. All that in 18 minutes. I hope your day gets better!
Oh, Dani…!
I remember asking my neighbour’s adult grandson if he could please not chop wood between 1:00 and 3:00 because that was Jade’s naptime. Neighbour was pretty much furious, but I was so insane with lack of sleep I assuaged my feelings of guilt by reasoning there were lots of other hours in the day for chopping wood. I hope the roofing doesn’ t last long.
Yours in solidarity…
Oh man, those days SUCK! Hope it gets better.
Been there-done that, and it sucks!
Sorry about the weather-cold here too, and the roofers, and any and all distractions, because, while the probably aren’t any worse than usual, the may seem that way today. Hope You manage a coffee, or green tea soon.
Good work with the diet ; )
Gas is down to $1.08/litre. Maybe a drive is in order for this afternoon? Even if you can’t sleep and drive at the same time, you can always listen to your own music and relax… Of course, I am totally opposed to the non-essential use of fossil fuels but getting a tired baby to have a good nap is essential in my books. (maybe I shouldn’t have given my blog address ;+)
Good luck.
I wish we lived next door to each other! Then we could let the babies roll around together while we made sure to heat up each other’s coffees. Because I am in the same boat today. House being demolished down the street and Henry suddenly hates sleeping. Blech.
Oh, Dani. Hugs to you today. I hope things are a leetle bit better by now.
My neighbor-noise story is the whiney-est possible. Once, when Snuggly Girl was small and not sleeping well (kinda like now, except smaller, but I digress) I was taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon and the neighbors had the gall to have a birthday party for one of their kids in their back yard. Gosh, that was loud. Grrrrr.
aww Dani… I hear ya. It’s gorgeous out this afternoon… any chance to take baby for a walk to get him to sleep? I know it’s expended energy on your part to go, but maybe it’d perk you up a bit?
I remember those days with my little ones…
Oh gosh, Dani, I feel your pain. Hope the day got better from there.
Well, you know it won’t always be like this. In 16 years when you start pressing your ears to their bedroom doors at around 2 in the afternoon to make sure they’re still alive, you’ll remember these days fondly. Also, sending you a hug…hey did you fall asleep while reading this…
Glad I am taking the time to read your blog today – it’s therapeutic to this mom who is at home with her 3 year old and 9 month old!