cabin fever

I didn't get much chance to observe the wild creature in action today, as my illness kept me asleep for much of the day. I did hear fussing and crying coming from the other rooms way more often than I normally do, and tonight David and I were theorizing about why that might be. I know that there have been days where Dennis has been fussy all day and when I took him out somewhere (usually Wal-Mart), he suddenly got happy. I don't know why this is, other than to say he's a social little guy, and spending too many days away from his adoring public really makes him irritable. So David tried to soothe the savage beast by taking him to Wal-Mart and for a quick visit to Grandma's house, and he came home just as fussy as before. Maybe it was cabin fever, maybe it wasn't.

He must have tried his Daddy's patience beyond belief today, and when I would go into his room to see what the problem was that was causing such loud screeching, he would smile sweetly at me and come sit in my lap. And then he'd get up, walk away, and start crying again. He hated getting his diaper changed, hated being put down, hated being picked up for longer than 10 seconds... And when we were getting him ready for bed, a little earlier than usual because we needed a break, we discovered the problem. Once we got his comfy clothes on, while he cried and fussed the whole time, he picked up his pacifier, picked up Frog, and walked over to his crib and grabbed the bars. He wanted to go to bed. And when we picked him up and put him in bed, he immediately rolled onto his back and gripped Frog, and waited for us to turn out the light and shut the door so he could go to sleep.

Maybe he was as sleepy today as I was, and we didn't let him nap it out. I got to sleep all day, and I know David would have liked more rest. What a shame we didn't just put Dennis back to bed whenever he got fussy. Maybe he's still sick like I am, maybe he needed to sleep to let his little immune system fight his ear infection and prevent him from getting the crud that his parents have. That will certainly be the strategy for tomorrow if it's another day like today!