Almost three weeks in

Let me just say THIS SUCKS! Ok now that I got that off my chest...
Last week was probably one of the hardest of my life. It was so long that I can't remember the first week Cecilia was in the cast to compare. But she didn't sleep anymore than the first week and it was harder on me because:
1. Everyone says the first two weeks are the hardest. I kept wondering if that meant this is what the rest of the time was going to be like. Up in the middle of the night with a child who cries unless you are holding her and not sleeping for hours and skipping naps on top of it.
2. I was sick. Let's just say I couldn't decide if throwing up would make me feel better or not. I didn't, which given my history is a bit of a surprise. But I spent a lot of time in the bathroom and probably couldn't sleep even if Cecilia was and I certainly wasn't any help to Shaun with her.

It was the worst Christmas ever! No sugar coating this one. She was up for about 5 hours in the middle of the night, a record for her. And I was in and out of the bathroom the whole time. We were at my parents house and they were generous enough to try their hand with her around 4:30 am and to watch her after she got up again at 7 am (after not quite two hours of sleep) while we slept in. They are so sweet and patient with her, I have a lot to learn from them. Anyway let's hope next Christmas will be better. I would say it can't get worse, but I know I would be proven wrong :)

On to the lesson I learned this week. I went to church on Sunday (because she chose to skip a nap). While there I heard several other kids fussing or crying and thought to myself this could be worse. We have a sweet baby who only cries in the middle of the night when she can't sleep and we put her down. Amazingly she hasn't been much more fussy with all of this missed sleep. I'm sure Heavenly Father has his hand in our lives right now on this front. She is still a sweet happy girl and smiles or giggles when she sees us. We are so blessed to have her in our lives and need to remember this is difficult for her too.

One last thing and I'll finish. Cecilia gets punchy when she doesn't sleep. It is kinda funny, except it reminds me she is overtired. Since she got her cast she has started to grin a huge, toothless, cheesy grin. Well last week she started giggling. She has always been a smiler, but getting her to giggle has been a challenge. Until sleep deprivation! Every time Shaun or I walked into the room from being out of sight she would smile huge and start giggling. It was hilarious! We started a game where I would walk away and then come at her and she would just laugh and laugh. It was the silver lining of the week. I was able to get a video, although this doesn't quite do it justice, I guess you just have to experience it for yourself. Anyone is welcome at 2 am to witness it :)