Going in reverse

For months, Nathaniel has been sleeping through the night (OK, he's only four months old, and he didn't do it from the very beginning ... so maybe close to two months, if we're lucky). Anyway, we got used to it. He had been an angel at home and at day care.

Until he got this cold.

Now, he's like a newborn waking up a few times each night. He coughs, he gurgles, he can't understand why it's hard to breathe when he was peacefully asleep moments earlier ... so he cries.

He had been sleeping from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. with only rare failures. Now, he's sleeping 9-11; 11:15-1:30; 2-2:45; 3:30-5:45; etc. Man, this is getting difficult. How do people handle this? (One way for me, I'm sorry to say, is fewer blog updates. I'm working to address that, but the little guy comes first).

Amanda and I are exhausted. The house is a mess (dishes piling; too little vaccuuming; lawn unmowed for weeks; etc). We're eating terrible foods and feeling bad about it.

But, through it all, Nathaniel still seems happy as can be. He's over 16 pounds, he's standing up (as long as I balance him, that is, he can support his weight on his legs); he's rolling over; he's smiling, laughing, etc. He's truly wonderful. It's just tough to figure out how Nathaniel smiling and laughing at 4 p.m. relates to Nathaniel screaming and crying at 3 a.m.

(We talked to our doctor about the ongoing cold ... they said as long as he has no fever and is eating, sleeping and laughing, we shouldn't try to do anything major. This is so frustrating!)