Wake Up Mom...NOW

So...I just want to tell all of you...babies sleeping through the night like angels...it's a myth.

Yes, some nights they sleep...they may sleep many nights in a row. But all of them wake up in the night at one point or another. So please, don't believe any parent who says other wise...they are lying. I promise. You are not alone.

Take my son for instance. You will remember I posted a few months back that he started to sleep through the night all of a sudden, and our co-sleeping ended just as suddenly. (This made me sad by the way...my snuggle bug was very missed). Literally the night he turned 9 months old, he slept in his crib all night for the first time ever.

Well, shortly before his first birthday he has decided this will just not do. At first I was like, okay, he is just in a growth spurt and this will be over in a week or so. A month later, and it seems to be getting worse. It is not just for nursing, he is just waking up.

I don't mind so much, it's just that he doesn't want to do anything. Once nursing is done he will "play nurse" for a while, then he won't lay down. He just wants to sit. He can't come to bed with me because he stays awake and jumps (literally) all over his daddy and I. I can't put him in his crib because then he screams. He just wants to sit. After about a week of this new behavior, I am at my wits end. I don't know what he wants...I just want him to sleep.

My solution so far...take a nap during the day when he does. Very useful.

Applause Appreciated

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Such a simple action and I cried about it today.

Mostly because it was my 10 month old son doing it.

After working on that all week with him (with him looking at me like "Mom, you have lost your mind") he clapped today! Naturally it was with Daddy, when I was off taking a test at the college. They were watching an African cultural dance performace and they started to clap and so did he. Then he turned and waved and pointed to the audiance (to make sure they knew he was there I suppose) and then went back to clapping with the performers. Daddy said he stole the show.

He is also going to sleep on his own now, no need for rocking. I cried about that tonight. I miss my little baby. I laugh and love and spout joy with every new thing he does, but I also cry a little on the inside (sometimes on the outside too) since I know that he is one step closer to not being a baby at all anymore, but a little boy.

Bittersweet.