Feeling Contrite

Sorry 'bout the crankiness last time, the only excuse I have is that I don't work well on limited sleep. See, the little family and I took a quick trip back east for a week long combined business/holiday visit. Unfortunately the trip did not pan out as planned. We got a startling call in the airport on the way there. My sister, who has been trying to conceive for eight years found out that the wee babe in her womb has an incompletely formed spine. As if the transition to parenthood weren't difficult enough, they will be faced with perhaps many additional challenges.

It actually was providential that we were on our way there, there is almost nothing one can do for others during their period of sorrow and confusion even when one is in the same locale. There is even less that one can do from 3,000 miles away. So we grocery shopped, cooked some wholesome meals, and did some dishes. And held onto each other and cried some.

So everything is a bit more settled now, sis and bro-in-law are psyched up to provide a supportive and empowering home for their new arrival. And crazy Aunt 'Hoop is already planning on some extensive googling for adaptive ski equipment and climbing harnesses.

Aside from all that nonsense, what was actually making me intolerably cranky is the fact that our wee one seems to have forgotten how to sleep during our journey. Two nights out of the seven on the trip he cried literally for hours in the middle of the night. The night-before-last he wailed every two hours. Last night he cried every hour. Naps have gone from an hour and a half to fifteen minutes. Picking him up makes him cry more. We've called the nurse, but there seems to be nothing physically wrong.

So wish me luck for tonight, so far he's been down more than two hours, and I've only heard one cry. However, being the pessimist, I'm not holding my breath. But I should be napping, so off I go. And I'm feeling particularly schmoopy, so consider yourself sloppily hugged, 'mkay?