Linda left for a business trip to Colorado Springs and Denver this past Sunday...and she will return later this evening. This isn't her first business trip since Evan was born, but it's definitely the longest in more ways than one.
Since I'm pretty much a stay-at-home-dad, and have been since Linda went back from maternity leave last June, I really had no uneasy feelings about her being gone for so long. I am really Evan's primary caregiver, and have dealt with a variety of things with him. Since last June, I've arranged my schedule with work to be able to stay home with him most weekdays, Monday-Friday, from the time he wakes up to about an hour before he goes to bed, which is when Linda usually gets home from work. This works out great, because I am able to break away and get a moment to myself...however I'm usually making dinner while Linda plays with Evan and gets some time with him on her own. He only stays with a sitter a few hours, if need be, if I'm unable to trade off a day. I never thought these past three days would be so trying.
Sunday, after I got off a 15 hour shift, I went to pick up Evan from his Aunt Noreen's since I was working late and Linda's flight was in the evening. By the time we got home, it was 10:00pm, and I didn't have any problems getting him to bed. Even though I was exhausted, I got the breaking news alert from CNN about Osama Bin Laden's death, and stayed up to watch President Obama address the nation, and watch the media coverage...I didn't actually turn off the TV til about midnight. I was up close to 20 hours.
Monday morning, I was too drained to do anything, and hoped Evan would be good for me so I could have a lazy day. He slept til 7:30. He was a bit fussy during the morning, but cheered up later in the afternoon. This worked out perfect for me, and we just had a movie day.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was a completely different story. Evan woke up, screaming (as usual), at 7:15. Normally, after we get him up and change his diaper, we'll let him play in his room by himself for maybe 30-45 minutes while we listen over the baby monitor, while we get things going for the day (e.g. get Truman up, let out and fed; make coffee; go pee; maybe a shower). He usually plays happily with his toys and will let us know when he's ready for us to get him. He didn't want any of this yesterday.
He was in one of those moods where he wasn't happy playing by himself, he wasn't happy with me holding him, he wasn't happy playing in the living room, didn't want to snuggle, didn't want to be read to, didn't want to eat...nothing. He screamed all day, and nothing I did appeased him.
His favorite foods right now are anything that is smothered in peanut butter, or ketchup; bananas or chicken nuggets. I made him a waffle and laid the peanut butter on thick and had a banana for him to eat. Didn't want it. Only wanted to throw it over the side of his highchair. He has been known to gobble a whole waffle down in no time flat.
I tried everything. Since his molars are erupting, I figured he was in some discomfort with those, and gave him a dose of Advil. Usually that sets in and within 30 minutes, he's a happy camper. Nope, didn't work. He was also farting up a storm yesterday, so I tried some Mylicon. Didn't work either. He was just pissed off at the world. Anytime I tried to leave the room to get something on my list of chores done, the moment I would leave his sight, he would break out into a tantrum.
Thinking he was tired, I laid him down for a nap. I had a huge list of things I had/needed to get done around the house (none of which I actually got accomplished, except the dishes). I think he heard me clattering around in the kitchen loading the dishwasher, and only napped for about 30 minutes. I started counting down the minutes until I put him to bed for the night...at noon...still 8 long hours to go before bedtime.
The rest of the day was spent with me trying my darnedest to make him happy with no luck. He didn't want to be read to, didn't want to play, didn't want to eat. Lunch time I gave him chicken nuggets...which promptly ended up on the floor for Truman to scavenge for...
Linda & I tried to FaceTime with each other around the time of his second nap. We had to cut our conversation short due to Evan being a grump. Since it was later in the afternoon, I didn't want him to sleep too long. I dozed with him on the couch for about 45 minutes. I should have let him sleep a bit more, but since I was counting down the minutes to 8 o'clock, I woke him up after about an hour. And talk about the wrath of Evan! He screamed, fussed, cried, fought...I'm sure he cussed me out, if I could only understand baby babble.
Exhausted and hungry, I finally fixed a frozen pizza for myself at about 7:30. And go figure...as soon as 7:30 rolled around last night, he was a happy camper...and demanded bites of my pizza. He ate maybe a third of my slice (with the onions, pepperoni, sausage, and peppers picked off). He then played happily in the living room, toddling all over the house, laughing and in a great mood. I stretched him out 45 minutes past his usual bedtime and he went to sleep with no problem. After Evan was sleeping peacefully, I searched in vain for an adult beverage. I took inventory of our liquor cabinet - two bottles of vodka, two bottles of rum, two bottles of scotch, a bottle of whisky, half a bottle of Cointreau, an unopened 4 year old bottle of Jägermeister, an even older opened bottle of port wine, a half gone bottle of Margarita mix, no red wine, a half drank bottle of some gross white wine in the fridge...then finally I scored! One lonely bottle of Bud Light in the back of the fridge. I promptly popped the cap off and guzzled it down. I think I deserved it!
The only good thing about yesterday was that Evan gave me his first kiss! He leaned toward me and puckered up just a bit... So, I guess that should make up for the cantankerous attitude I had to manage with yesterday.
This morning he woke up screaming at 5:45. I'm pretty sure he was trained to scream by Jamie Lee Curtis. I'm not exactly sure what to make of this screaming. He sleeps through the night, but every morning for the past 2 or 3 months, when he wakes in the morning, he SCREAMS. There's no rousing. Just one minute sleeping peacefully, the next minute screaming like someone's murdering him. Some of my friends have suggested that maybe he has night terrors. But he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night like this...it's been a long time since we've had to get up with him in the middle of the night. I don't know what to make of it. Linda & I used to rush into his room to calm him down. Now we are taking a different approach. Let him scream it out for 5-10 minutes and see if he goes back to sleep. If after 5 or 10 minutes, if he's still screaming, we'll go in to comfort him. This morning, he screamed for 7 minutes and fell back to sleep for another hour.
However, I didn't. I laid in bed for 20 minutes, trying in vain to catch a few more minutes of sleep...but was wide awake. Wouldn't you be after being startled awake by that?
So far this morning, he's playing happily in his room. I am counting down the minutes until Linda's plane lands. These past few days of being a single dad have been exhausting and draining. Just when I thought I could handle it, Evan had to prove me wrong. I did handle it...well...I dealt with it.
Linda's got another business trip in two weeks to New York. Then another one the week after to Houston. Thankfully, those are just overnight trips, there and back.
My props go out to all the single parents out there that have to handle days like these all the time with no help...I really don't know how you all do it by yourself!
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