Monster Baby

I play this game with D where I stand him up and say in a very weird, German-man-esque voice, "I am a monster baby and I am going to crush your town with my giant monster baby legs!" Weird, I know.  But little did I know that my beautiful, happy, chatty baby would soon evolve into a monster baby.

Teething + four month sleep regression = monster D.

I'm pretty sure that we are officially in teething territory.  Massive amounts of drool, pulling on the ears, snuffly nose, wanting to chew on everything.  Last night, though, we had blood curdling screaming along with this.  D has never been inconsolable, even as a newborn, so last night's crying episodes lead me to believe he's teething.  Poor, poor baby.  These are the kind of screams that make your heart and your tummy hurt, where the baby's whole body goes rigid and the arms and legs are flailed out, even when you're holding them.  Thank goodness I was at my mom's because I probably would've freaked out. 

We gave him some Tylenol, a bath, and a boob and put him to bed.  He woke up at 11:30, 12:30, and then 6. For a baby who usually sleeps 8-6, this is not a normal routine.  In his sleep, he scratched the outer part of his ear so hard he made himself bleed. 

Now, I've never had a baby before, but I think this may be teething behavior.  There's a theory out there that babies go through a four month sleep regression because they're developing so much mentally at this stage, and I think we've hit that too.  Usually D's naps are wonderful. I can lay him down and he makes no peep for an hour or two, but lately, he wakes up multiple times during his naps and I have to go put his paci in and calm him down so he goes back to sleep.  I feel like all of these sleep disturbances are also making him a fuss bucket. 

I don't want him to grow up too quickly, but I would definitely like for this four month sleep regression to stop. D's spoiled me with this good sleep, so I'd like it back!  I'm one tired momma.  With Sparky gone four days a week and grad school back in full swing, I'm pretty worn out and WAY ready for our vacation next week. Being a "single" parent is incredibly difficult.  Props to women who do it.