The Laughing Zombie

I'm starting to realize how spoiled Derek and I were when we first brought Ethan home. He slept almost through the whole night, only getting up once or twice at most! I was secretly smug, smiling my haughty smile on the inside while other mothers would explain away their tired eyes. How naive! As he got a little older, Ethan stopped taking naps during the day. I wasn't too worried as long as he slept at night. Well, goodbye gravy train. A couple of weeks ago his sleeping habits went haywire. I'm not sure what happened. He was on his own schedule (we were waiting to change it after the North Carolina trip) but then, there wasn't a schedule at all! There was no sleeping! Speaking as someone who adores sleep, I was stumped. Ethan didn't wanted to sleep, and when we did get him snoozing it was usually because I was holding him. It never lasted more than an hour, or three, no matter what time of day it was. No one was sleeping.

During this time I was amazed at how Ethan acted. He was the same! He would smile, laugh, be patient with our sluggish response to his hunger pains, and play as much as ever. I would even play with him more to try and help sleep come more quickly. The only differences were that sometimes, usually in the middle of a laugh, his face would drop and he would let out the most pathetic sob, or would stare with a blank expression no matter what was happening around him. The stare was a little weird, but those sobs got me every time. There are no defenses for something like that. Strangely, he would alternate laughing and sobbing. It was horrible and funny at the same time.

We decided on a sleeping schedule and we've started a bedtime routine for Ethan. At the very beginning he slept less, if that was possible. He's started throwing little tantrums when he's exhausted, and physically fights with all his might to stay awake; literally fights! This is the first time he's really screamed his head off and it happened to be in my ear. Derek and I take turns putting him to sleep and getting up with him in the morning. He's slowly started to adjust and tonight it only took him 10 minutes before he was sleeping, IN HIS CRIB!!!!! Not in the bed with us, not on the couch with us, not even in his cradle in our room, but in his room! In his crib! Hallelujah! Last night he even slept for more than four hours before waking up to eat, and then he went back to sleep! Things are starting to settle down and feel as they should. Now, if I can conquer this spider paranoia all will be right with the world.