Baby nightmares.

Our plans to visit JJ will not materialize due to P's work. Friday, at approximately 5:30 p.m. Baby S was about to have meltdown because P was not home. She has a rather accurate internal clock and knows when her Baba is due home. Weird, because children are notoriously lousy when it comes to the concept of time. I texted P to make sure he was OK, as he usually calls or texts when he is running late. P called me a few minutes later to inform me that he had an emergency meeting at work. Bottom line is that a less experienced lab tech managed to screw up and old reliable P is needed to help catch up. And that is when P was told that as part of the backlash he would have to work through the weekend but cannot take Monday and Tuesday off. It is a three hour drive to JJ's home and there is no way we are going to have Baby S in the car for six hours and have her spend three hours with her brother. We know it'll be too much and she'd be devastated. So now we wait until P can manage a Monday and Tuesday off. We are beyond bummed out because we really miss JJ and were looking forward to seeing SSS, Luke, Taun, Eric and Auntie C. Oh well, such is life.

We had the night from he** last night. Baby S had a decent day even though her Baba had to work. She was her rambunctious self and surprised us when at 8:00 p.m. she walked over to her rocking chair, sat down and immediately fell asleep. Baby S always fights sleep and even though she is getting better she just does not drop like that. P and I were stunned, just watching her and wondering if she was truly asleep (see pictures below). We waited ten minutes then decided to place her in her crib. P was beat and asked me to lay down with him while he fell asleep. Then by 9:00 p.m. I too fell asleep.

About an hour later we heard Baby S cry her I'm-really-scared-and-about-to-meltdown-cry. Come to think of it we had not heard it in a while, not with that intensity. P bolted from bed and tried to calm her down. I do not know what's wrong with me because I think I dozed off and was awakened by another bout of crying. Baby S had a nightmare and it must have been the mother of all baby nightmares. Poor thing was sobbing and just crawling out of her skin. She decided that using P as a kicking bag was what she needed and boy did she kick him for a long time. I got the head butting part. At a point P was so sore that he went to sleep at the foot of the bed, but Baby S's tossing and turning kept him up all night. P did not complain once. Now that she's sleeping on her own he realizes that our baby days are numbered and is enjoying whatever he can get. Funny because P has always maintained that babies are highly overrated and was relieved when we found out Baby S would be 15-months old on Family Day. He nicely but sincerely told me that had she been younger I would have been on my own with her until she became more "interesting." :) I do not mind because I have known this for a very long time. P is just not into infants and he's always been honest about his lack of enthusiasm for them.

At approximately 3:00 a.m. P returned to the head of the bed. As soon as he laid down Baby S rolled on top of him, fell asleep and was stuck to her Baba like glue. Just as I am about to fall asleep Baby S began that frantic cry and I could tell by her eyes and body language that she was in the midst of another nightmare. Whatever it was it scared the daylights out of her. As any parent knows the worse thing is to be unable to console your child. We were very frustrated.

P was exhausted this morning and I expect him to go straight to bed when he comes home. I was left with a very cranky and aggressive Baby S. She has spent the day crying, throwing tantrums, head butting me and hitting herself. But in true Baby S fashion she turned into "Adorable, Jolly, Charming Baby S" when P came home for lunch. Maybe she felt bad about all the kicking she did last night and decided to give him a break.


Now that Baby S does not have to be on me all the time I have the opportunity to add belated post to the blog. I'm mainly working on getting as many pictures and video uploaded and saving them as drafts. I added pics and video of her first visit to the lake on September 6. Just click on the sidebar on 2008 and you should be able to view the post. I'm currently working on an August post and there are two more lake visits. It was a good weekend and we ended up at the lake three times in four days.