Nighttime Demons

The toothpick population at my house has been steadily dwindling due to the fact that I need them to prop up my eyelids so I can drive to work and get coffee so they'll stay up on their own at least part of the day (and then write endless run-on sentences). My eyelid maladies are stemming from the Little Man, who has turned into the Little Nighttime Demon this week.

My lovely, cuddly, sleeps-8-to-10-hours-at-night Little Man has reverted to waking up 3 to 6 times a night all of a sudden. Definitely not a pretty sight. And I do mean me - he doesn't seem to show an ill effect whatsoever. I however, have taken to shuffling around like Lurch and grunting at the baby in the dark at 3:20 when the siren call lures me into the nursery. And I am out of sorts and function through a thick haze when I'm awakened for the final time in the morning, which this week has been around 6 am. I feel for my poor co-workers, because as of Tuesday I stopped caring about my appearance, and have steadily declined to the point that I'm really not sure if I brushed my hair or my teeth this morning.

The thing that really sucks is that, not only does he wake up several times a night, he squeals with an unnatural sound until he is rocked back to sleep by me - and only me. Sometimes this rocking process is repeated 2 and 3 times when he wakes up the instant his head touches the mattress - which is apparently filled with sharp pins. Which leaves me actually in my bed, able to sleep for about 30 minutes each hour. Which means I slept . . . ahh, hell with the math. Not e-damn-nough.

This evening I'm feeling more alert and it has occurred to me that his behavior may not be the growing-spurt phase that's happened several times in the past, interrupting his sleeping habits for a few days. With that strange pig-stuck squealing cry, there may in fact be something physically wrong with him. Perhaps he may be teething. I tested the theory when I put him down this evening, and used the baby Orajel on his little gums for the first time in a while. Amazing, instant results. He started sucking on the Q-tip applicator, and immediately stopped fidgeting and squealing, and fell fast asleep.

No more will I be a victim of the demons. I am heavily armed, not with stakes, crosses or holy water, but with a little pink magic Orajel Q-tip, and the ability to snap the tip off and use it.