Clifton Castleman and I said our good-nights last night
with tender words of love, thanks, support and appreciation for each other, a
beautiful and moving start to sleep...
Which was then marred by a suddenly fractious ceiling fan
at 3 in the morning that annoyed Clif to get out of bed (no airflow and room
temp even a degree above that of a meat locker keeps him from sleeping, and it
was making a horrible noise), which caused Flynn to stir, which woke me up.
Figured I might as well go to the bathroom, came back to Clif standing on my
side of the bed with a red headlamp on trying to fix said ceiling fan and Flynn
watching wide-eyed. Got back in bed where I was hit by the wall of stench that is our desperately-needing-bath dog who wanted to get right under my nose seeking comfort from the unusual chaos while well-meaning Clif tried to get Flynn
back to sleep with his musical seahorse which, unfortunately, only stimulated
him even more. I took over with my
mid-night resettle Flynn technique that involves multiple pacifier re insertions
and letting him use my hand as a lovey from a contorted position which is not
great for my already painful neck, shoulders and back (I'm not sure Clif even
knows I have this practiced experience).
Clif, irritated and tired, kept offering to change and
feed Flynn which, even if it might have helped with the immediate need, the
resulting tidal waves of schedule wonkiness it could create terrified me and I
kept insisting I got it. I'm sure Flynn's chatty babbling to my hand and his
pacifier did little to convince Clif of my handle on the situation. At that
point even I wondered if I'd be able to recover baby sleep mode after that much
activity and stimulation.
An hour later I realized I'd been drifting off. The now
sporadic metal grind of death wasn't making me fear imminent ceiling fan crash
onto my head and Flynn had gone back to sleep. Success! I reclaimed my numb and
tingling arm, rolled over with an achy sigh to go to sleep...
And almost immediately the smoke detector low battery
alarm decided to join the party and I say alarm because the piercing beep alone
wouldn't do, ours also announces itself in a very clear, very loud female
voice. Yup, not creepy or startling AT
ALL.
This morning woke up 20 minutes late after forgetting to
reset the clock when we lost power yesterday from the unexpected storm, power
that went out pretty much the moment I stepped in the shower with Flynn after I
got distracted from the rolling storm clouds and accidentally let him pee all
over himself. Because I was late with breakfast
there wasn't time to put Flynn back down in the co-sleeper and get a cat nap
like I usually do, so he went back in the bassinet, which is where Clif would
prefer him to be anyway. Putting him in
the basinet or pack and play almost always is a sure way to wake him up and
this morning was no different. I had
doubts about him falling back asleep while I ran around and got ready for
work. He had just drifted off by the
time I was ready to leave, and since I am incapable of heading out for the day
without kissing both of my dudes, I had to practically crawl into the bassinet
to give Flynn his goodbye kiss, an act that, naturally, woke him right up
again. I didn't have time to settle him
back down so I left, praying he would put himself back to sleep so Clif
wouldn't have to start his day tired, frustrated and earlier than usual.
Any bets on who is going to
survive today?
