Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Roomies!

Jack has taken a very important step in the bonding and attachment process in recent weeks. He has learned that Mamma and Daddy will come running whenever he cries. This is the ultimate Catch-22. We are so happy that he has taken this step in his development, but at the same time it's a little tough getting up several times during the night to go reassure him that we are there for him. Not helping matters is the fact that he has at least 85 painful molars coming in (that is a rough estimate based on the amount of trouble the teeth seem to be giving him). We have him on a steady diet of non-recalled medicines and Oragels for his teething issues.

Anyway, all of this has led to the perfect storm of a lot of restless nights in the Curran household. Jack has only slept through the night two or three times over the last three weeks, which means Mommy and Daddy have only slept through the night two or three times over the last three weeks. We are to the point now that I am sleeping on the floor in his room just so that when he wakes up every couple of hours he knows I am there and goes right back to sleep. This seems like a better option than getting up and going in his room every couple of hours like we had been doing when this started. We are probably going down a slippery slope with my habit of sleeping in his room, but it is kind of a "pick your poison" type situation. Do we never get more than a couple hours of interrupted sleep at a time by me not sleeping in his room, or do we risk a habit forming practice of me sleeping in his room? Basically what it boils down to is that his teething issue is making the little guy a shade cranky during the days ("a shade cranky" is like saying the Titanic had a "minor water issue"). So, we are basically taking the stance that we all need as much sleep as possible during the nights so that we have the energy (and patience) to have decent days.

Having a roommate is not so bad. We throw water balloons out of our window at unsuspecting co-eds, sneak a keg in past the RA (Mommy) on the weekends and we even have our rivals mascot goat tied up in the closet. Actually, I think I just described a bad episode of the Brady Bunch. That's what sleep deprivation, a lack of energy/patience and an increasingly sore back will do to a Daddy!

When we are not dealing with these issues, we are taking trips to the beach, taking walks around the neighborhood and just enjoying life as is. While it's my nature to complain about the sleepless nights, we know that this is a step in the adoption process that is welcomed even if it's a little tough. We are proud of the little guy for bonding with us to the point that he sees us as always going to be there for him.

5 comments:

  1. Poor Jack....those teeth must be hurting him so bad!! Fortunately, we have not encountered the teething just yet but I am sure it is coming!! We remember too well those sleepless nights or waking up many times. The last month or so have been great for us sleep wise as Matt is pretty much always sleeping through the night (knock on wood). Different than it sounds like with Jack, after we came home we had Matt in a crib in our room for many weeks and he woke up all the time because he knew we were right there and would jump up for him...now since he has been in his own room, when he does wake up at night, he usually goes right back to sleep (thankfully!) Here's hoping Jack feels better soon and you guys catch up on some well needed rest! :)

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  2. hehe...at least you can see some humor in it.

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  3. Sure hope Jack's teeth start feeling better really soon. Hope you guys are able to get some sleep soon!

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  4. Hope he is feeling better. How little guy was also doing some last week and it was not fun at all.

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  5. Oh man, I feel for you! We've been there, in fact we're still there (minus the teething) as Joshua still gets up a few times a night with rocking and moaning. I hope you get more sleep soon!

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