Wednesday, July 9, 2014

A Perfect Storm



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?

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