Saturday, April 26, 2008

Nocturns

We have been having trouble sleeping at night lately. Andrew has been having nightmares. We will hear him cry out, "No, no, stop! Help, Mommy, help me!" We have to listen to that sort of thing for almost an hour. It is really disruptive to our television viewing.



Just kidding. I go in right away, alarmed that my little boy is in such distress. He is usually still asleep, but responds to my words of comfort ("you are a big boy and big boys don't cry or feel scared!"). Kidding again, Momo. Interestingly, in the morning, when he is able to carry on a conversation, he consistently--and by that I mean, every single time we ask--reports his bad dream to be about a bee coming into his room. Weird.


I told my dad, who informed me that recently he had asked Andrew what noise a bee made and was surprised to hear Andrew's rendition: a loud and very aggressive / angry buzzing. He had thought it was strange; I guess it makes more sense now, but I still wonder about the origin of the fear.

Will: It all started out so promising. You slept for like 7 hours at week two. Then your weight became an issue and I had to awake you all the time to nurse. Now you get up every 4 hours or so. This is not that big of a problem, considering my background in Andrew's Intense Sleep Disorder. At least your sleeping hours are in a crib, not attached physically to me in my bed.

But you have a very interesting quirk. You hate singing. I have tried to force my songs upon you, but it almost always has caused immediate and intense distress. I even once tried waiting until you were asleep in my arms before seranading you softly. I tried doing it while not looking at you, a sort of superstitious approach. At first I thought it had worked; you were motionless in my arms. I looked down at you, expecting to find a peaceful little slumbering face. But no; your eyes had popped wide open in what truly appeared to be shock. I have given up.


Your dad discovered an even weirder thing about your falling asleep preferences. You like to be whistled to sleep. The advantage of this is that I don't have to listen to Brigham mess up all the words to very popular LDS children's songs that we sing constantly in our home and to which Andrew knows all the words (like I Am a Child of God. Really.). I think I actually awakened your brother once in a loud attempt to correct Brigham's bizarre rendition. It makes me laugh every time I hear your dad back there whistling away. I know you will be asleep soon.

Andrew's favorite song was "As I Have Loved You." When he hears it on his little CD, he tells me that it is a Mommy song. Singing that song stopped tears almost immediately in almost all situations. Only recently has its power waned.

Do you want to know the one song you have tolerated a few times? Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love. I think its perfect.

9 comments:

Tat said...

This is such a hilarious post... I especially like the part where Brigham messes up Primary song lyrics. And you correct him loudly. That sounds just like Micah and me. (P.S. did you mean "surreptitiously" instead of "superstitiously"?)

alexandra said...

No, I meant superstitiously. Like a watched pot never boils, a watched baby won't settle while I sing sort of thing. Like me watching would make a difference . . .

Michelle said...

you are so funny Alexandra....gosh...we need to hang out!
Sorry about the most recent sleeping issues at your house....that's no fun. Really...let's hang out soon. I watch Taylor tomorrow, but you should still come over and play with us! what do you think?

Momo Cannon said...

This helped me have a good laugh which I needed today. By the way, Will looks wonderful in blue! Love,

Carolina said...

I think the bee nightmares fit right into your son's psychic abilities. It turns out that the honey bees in the U.S. have been disappearing over the last year or so, and the news has recently reported that they are taking over all of the empty houses that have sat on the market for months and months during our little housing recession. They are taking over houses and your son knows what's next. . . .

Paul said...

That's so funny that Will can't handle singing! And whistling, of all things.
That's rough about Andrew's bumblebee nightmares! We also have sleep issues here now and then. Benjamin was up for about an hour last night, probably from a nightmare. I'm heartless though and finally let him cry it out after attempting to rock him and sing to him for what seemed like forever. I even tried to bring him into our bed, but he wouldn't have it. Good thing he still likes his crib! I wouldn't be able to get away with such torture if he were already in a big boy bed. :)

Audrey and the Boys said...

Scott's greatest childhood fear was also a bee. He an tell you a comical story of his fears of bees when we meet up next!

Unknown said...

my kids hate it when I sing, too. Lily tells me it gives her a headache.

those pictures are so great...

Tiana said...

Poor Andrew!! Maybe you should get some books about bees at the library and he will learn they aren't so scary. I only say that because we once checked some out for Ches and he LOVED them and is now fascinated with bees. Also, Will looks Adorable! I just had to laugh at his going to sleep fickleness. Too funny. Isn't it amazing what personality they have at this age?? At least you have figured out what he likes.