I Write. You Read.

A part of me believes that Simon knows how to read. Not only do I believe that he knows how to read, I believe he possesses the wherewithal to navigate the internet without assistance. I believe all of this because not even a week after that last entry — in which I extolled the many wonderful accomplishments he has made in the past month or so — my son decided to stop sleeping through the night like an angel. Instead, he has decided to stay up as long as possible, screaming and fighting the entire time. We know he’s sleepy. *He* knows he’s sleepy. But he doesn’t want to go to sleep.

Last night was the worst night in recent memory. The little guy screamed and blubbered for about two hours, refusing to lie still and drift away to dreamland. We rocked him. Angie fed him. We tried to soothe him with the binky, which he had seemingly outgrown all on his own (and which still didn’t do very much in the soothing department). No matter what we tried, Simon simply rolled over on his stomach and cried.

After awhile I decided to try something new. I took off Simon’s pajamas, leaving him in only his diaper. This seemed at first to be the magic bullet. He immediately calmed down and seemed to be ready for sleep. I left him lying on his side, softly cooing in a way that said “I’m going to sleep now…”

Strutting in a very smug and arrogant way, I went into the bedroom to join Angie for a peaceful night of uninterrupted sleep. I was, as she put it, a Hero. I had stopped Simon from crying by simple application of trial-and-error, changing the conditions in a way that hadn’t been tried before. I won.

I then became convinced that not only can Simon read the internet, he also has super-hearing. After our little pat-Daddy-on-the-back moment, he began to wail again. Loudly. Our parental stress level was raised, we seemed to be at the end of our ropes. Heated words of frustration were exchanged. We were both (all three?) dead tired, and just wanted our baby to go to sleep. We all needed him to go to sleep. NOW.

Eventually, he did go to sleep. Angie was the winner. She sat up with him and, I assume, fed him some more until he was soothed. I love her dearly.

I’m hoping this isn’t a trend. This has been at least two nights in a row that Simon hasn’t slept to the best of his ability, the second being worse than the first. Tonight we embark on a late-night car trip — initially planned to coincide with our little angel’s normal bedtime and period of deepest sleep — and I’m afraid that it won’t be the picture of silent bliss of which we’ve been dreaming.

Wish us luck.