We had a rough go of it last night and by 'we', I mean Monkey and Me. 12:30 is when I went to sleep, 12:30 is when Mason wakes up (went to bed at 9). I tuck him in, sing a song or two and leave the room. At 1:30 I hear him grunt (tossing and turning), so I go back into his room, tuck him in, sing a song or two and leave the room. At 2:30 Mason starts to fuss, I am not able to console him, he kicks off his blankets and it's not clear why he's upset. There isn't a steady cry (teething) and he's not itching too bad (eczema) I take him in my arms and try to rock him gently, he settles but does not go back to sleep. He starts to kick his legs. I continue to console and give up 10 mins later after a dose of antihistamine has been ingested and some homeopathic gum number is applied. I surrender. I sullenly walk back in my bedroom (where Clayton is sleeping peacefully) grab my pillows, a blanket out of the closet and retreat into the livingroom. Mason in my arms with his own blanket and his sniffy (receiving blanket that is his lovey). I instruct Mason that it's now time to resume to sleep and his eyes are wide open. He cuddles in for a slight moment and then sits up and starts to crawl around. He may at this point have started babbling but it was such a rough night, I cannot remember. I let him try to climb all over me, trying not to fall asleep as he might fall off the futon. I hope this Mommy turned jungle gym tires him out. He plays for at least 10 minutes (it's now past 3am) and I encourage him back to sleep. He finally gives in but not without occasionally kicking his legs, itching his tummy and making his baby grunty noises. Somewhere between 3:30am and 4:00am we fall asleep. I periodically wake up to make sure he's still beside me and am happy to see him off in dreamyland. What feels like minutes later, I am being kicked in the ribs and the fuss monster has returned. Mason starts to cry. I want to cry too. I take him in my arms, rock him while walking around the living room. He's itchy so I head back into his room to retrieve his anti-itch lotion. Mason continues to cry. At this point I realize that it is 6:15am and Clayton should be up soon to 'relieve me' and start his day. I feel so awake that I'm not certain I will return to a deep sleep. Clayton takes Mason from my arms and I return to bed and do fall into a deep sleep until I wake on my own at 9:15. Mason is still asleep, I'll have 15 mins to myself before we start the day.
Fast forward to 10:00am, Mason is happily playing in his bounceroo. I look at him and notice his face is shiny, not from drool but from his nose. My son has his very first cold. That explains the coughing yesterday.
Poor little monkey.