A nights sleep....

I will be the first to tell you that I don't have much to complain about when it comes to getting sleep through my sons first few months of life. My gracious and loving wife wakes up to feed him without complaint and Elijah, for his part, usually only wakes up once a night and goes to bed at 7:30. Yes, we (I) have it easy.

However, last night was a different story. As my wife likes to say, going backwards is one of the more difficult parts of being a parent. When you are used to your child sleeping pleasantly through most of the night it is especially stressful when he decides to wake up and scream again, and again, and again.

I awoke sometime last night around ten thirty to my son proclaiming he was unhappy. He is, if nothing else, very persistent. I think he takes after his father in that regards and so he cried for what seemed like decades, nay centuries (in actuality 15-20 minutes) before Katie decided that she would just feed him so he would cease and desist. I shut my eyes, only to open them again about 5 minutes later to him pontificating on the unfairness of the world. I had a cavemanesqe conversation with Katie consisting of a series of grunts that conveyed my amazement the boy was still crying...despite being fed a few minutes earlier. Katie was smart enough to look at the clock and tell me that he had had an hour and a half of sleep since he was fed and that it hadn't been one extended scream session. So Katie again got up, worked her magic and the boy went to sleep again.

I cannot imagine what it is like for all you poor dads out there who have children who scream regularly throughout the night...after just one night of multiple screamings I was beginning to nash my teeth, contemplate sending him to boarding school and soundproofing his room. So...to all you dads out there who have (or have had to at some point) lived on 2 hours of sleep a night, my heart goes out to you...keep on keepin on!