Tuesday, February 6, 2007

For Crying Out Loud

Being a new parent means a lot of firsts. Not all of these firsts feel as good as the first time your baby smiles at you. In fact, a lot of them of them smell bad or feel pretty cruddy. Sunday night/Monday morning was a first in our house. It was the first time we listened to LP cry and resisted the urge to pick her up and bring her into bed with us.

It is not that we always bring her into bed with us. In fact, we rarely have; she joined us in bed occasionally during her first few weeks when we were too tired to stand and we bring her in on weekend mornings when we aren't yet ready to face the day. In general, we have been really lucky. LP goes right to sleep when we put her down at night and she sleeps through the night.

However, of late, there are nights when she wakes up at 12:30 or 1 am and screams. For some reason, when she wakes up at 7:45 and is waiting for her daddy to come and get her, she can quietly play in her crib, but in the middle of the night, playing quietly doesn't appear to be an option. So, Monday morning, after applying orajel (does that stuff really work?) and attempting to rub her belly for a few minutes, I had no choice but to walk away. I got back into bed and listened to her cry. And waited. And shortly after 1 there was silence. She had exhausted herself and fallen back to sleep. Of course, I got up to check.

The next morning I was sure she was giving me the cold shoulder for abandoning her in her moment of need. Nah, I must me imagining it, right?

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