tooth-related insomnia

I have the greatest, most difficult, most rewarding job in the world. It's called motherhood. Luckily, I have an excellent coworker, one who excels at everything, one who is maybe an even better parent than I am. I couldn't possibly describe to David how wonderful a father he is and how well he takes care of Dennis and me. We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful man as the one responsible for us.

David's been doing the morning duty this week. I have developed a raging case of insomnia not helped by the fact that Dennis' emerging new back molars cause him to whimper nightly from 2 A.M. to 4 A.M., and at 4 A.M. to break out into serious crying. For three nights I brought him to our bed, and he pummeled us with his head, kicked us, pulled our hair, tackled us, etc. for hours until we returned him (much happier) to his room. Last night, I gave him ibuprofen after spending 10 minutes explaining to him that it was going to help him (so that he'd quit thrashing his head from side to side with his mouth tightly closed). I stayed with him and watched him curl up into a sad little baby ball in the bed while clutching frantically at Froggy. He slept well from then on. I didn't. And since it's happened for 4 nights running, I can only presume that tonight will be more of the same. For this reason, I've been sleeping ridiculously, absurdly late, and David (who is STILL trying to recover from The World's Worst Ear Infection and Coughing Plague) has been home caring for Dennis. We've taken turns this week. One watches Dennis, one naps, and we switch off, and when Dennis naps, we both collapse.

I didn't nap today. I did sleep late, but then I got up and (gasp!) loaded the dishwasher and sorted some clothes. I played with Dennis, who was pleased that he was able to communicate so easily with me today. I went to the gym for the first time in 3 weeks, and it was great until the last machine, when I suddenly REALLY needed to lie down. The trainer supplied me with a pillow and a granola bar and things were right as rain in 10 minutes, but it was pretty awful being dizzy and all. My eating habits have been completely terrible lately, and my old friend hypoglycemia wanted to let me know he hadn't completely left me alone, and so I will be more careful now. Also, I am still trying to recover from the plague myself. It was nice to know that I made the effort to go, because the longer you stay away from the gym, the harder it is to get back into the habit of going. I had great reasons for being away that long, but now I'm back, and I want to see if I can continue the good progress I'm making.

Dennis correctly pointed out an "O" on my shirt today with no prompting. I picked him up and he pointed to it and said "O". We were doubly impressed because it was a cursive "O". David was in the kitchen cooking while I read books to Dennis in his high chair post naptime, and I walked into the other room to do something (I don't remember what). When I returned, David asked me if I could tell what Dennis was saying. I listened for a minute, thought I heard "fork?" and then asked him if he wanted a fork. This was the correct answer. I handed one to him and he just lit up and said "Fork!". David thanked me because he wasn't real sure that Dennis wasn't saying a much nastier word that sounds similar and he didn't quite know how to react. He also pointed out and named Gordon the train in his book today, and the way he says Gordon is indescribably cute. And this afternoon, David told him it was time to take his nap, and he came over to me and tapped me on the leg and said "Mama, night night!". Then he hugged my leg and I leaned over and hugged and kissed him. I hope he doesn't know just how well and tightly he has me wrapped around his chubby little baby finger. Gosh I love that kid, teething and insomnia and all!