Worst of times, best of times

This morning was pretty rough. Jacob woke up early as usual (about 5:15). He stayed lying down for 20-30 minutes when I joined him in his room, but by 5:45 the lights were on in his room and reading had begun. We typically read until he comes to some passage or picture with food or drink in it. This triggers his desire to go downstairs and get some milk or a snack to start the morning right.

Things were going fairly normally until he finished eating as much of his oatmeal as he wanted at 6:30. For some unfathomable reason, he decided to be cranky and whine his way through the morning. No amount of playing with toys or puzzles, reading, having fun with Aunt Rosemary, etc., improved the situation. We finally went grocery shopping and he switched from whiny to hyperactive, which lasted till we got home.

He was still pretty hyper at home even after having some muffin and orange for a snack. Nothing seemed to placate him. Finally, Rosemary got him to go down for his nap around 11:30. It only lasted till 12:15 or 12:30, when Angie came home for lunch from work. Jacob was cranky again and it lasted for quite a while. Angie and I think his moodiness is because he is not getting enough sleep. It is certainly driving us crazy and causing us to lose sleep.

After Angie went back to work, Jacob and Lucy and I were hanging out. Lucy drifted off to sleep in the swing in the living room, so I decided to give Jacob a try at a nap around 2:15. We read some stories, laid down and I was singing to him. He had his foot up on the wall while he lay there, which was not a good sign at all. Finally, Lucy started fussing and waking up. Yikes!!! So I told Jacob that I was going to take care of Lucy and he should stay in bed and go to sleep. He always wants us to stay with him to fall asleep, so I thought there was little hope of this working, but Lucy needed me.

I left his room and closed the door. After getting down stairs and starting to soothe Lucy, I waited for Jacob to come out of his room. Ten minutes went by. Fifteen. Twenty. By this time, I accepted that a miracle happened and that Jacob drifted off to sleep on his own! In spite of a really terrible morning, this is a great sign that things may improve. Hopefully Jacob can get himself to sleep more often. Say a prayer.