Saturday, January 15, 2011

Babies are jerks.

Sorry, a little bitter this morning.  Henry woke for the first time today at around 2:45, then proceeded to never really get settled down.  I'd have forty five minutes of silence, then he'd start talking to his mobile or kicking the bed rails.  We do have crib bumpers, but he stretches his legs and feet up until he's hitting the actual rail, above the bumper.  After a few attempts to feed him and get him back down, I finally gave up and got up around seven.  He had some prunes, then started fussing, so I put him back to bed.  He was sound asleep almost instantly, and will probably sleep til ten.  I, on the other hand, am blearily staring at the computer, coffee in hand, tired, but not tired enough to go back to sleep.

Sometimes you wonder if they do it on purpose.

We got to have a night out last night, though, my baby brother and his girlfriend came over to watch Henry.  Casey is great with him, probably because of the practice he got with my niece.  She was born while he was in high school, and my sister was back home at that point.   We were all used to her brother, who was a pretty calm and happy kid-really, he'd go to anybody, he slept great, he was just an easy baby to deal with.  I think we were all expecting something similar with her.

Then, on July 17....P arrived.  And she was a screamer.  Not her fault, she had colic, but that kid got spoiled very early.  She had grandparents and two uncles around who adored her-my mom even wanted to put her crib in their room.  But the kid did not sleep.  If you were holding her and she wore herself out screaming and did nod off, God help you if you moved or made any noise.  Because if she got up, you were in for a new round of screaming, energized by the five minutes of sleep she'd had.

When my dad commented on how solidly Henry slept, one of my brothers said "You're just used to P, who would wake up if an ant coughed.  Outside."  I remember a trip to the beach with her-on the way home all the girls rode together, my mom, my sister, me, and the baby.  She screamed for six.  hours.  straight.   She finally fell asleep around Richmond.  I had to pee really badly, but when my mom asked if she should stop, I just said "Don't do anything that might wake her up."  I seriously would have wet my pants or gone in a cup before I let my mom stop the car.


So after helping out so much with P (who, I'm happy to say, is a lovely, sweet, smart nine year old now who loves to hear stories about what a banshee she used to be) Casey is pretty patient and fun with Henry.  I feel pretty comfortable leaving them together, and it's hard to find someone who you're ok leaving your kid with.  Plus, he works for beer and cookies.  You can't beat that.

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