The Hubs: Baby Whisperer

So, Goose seems to have decided he is never going to sleep through the night 

without waking up... at least once.

And, when he wakes up, he is going to scream until you come and pick him up.

When I say "scream", I don't mean he is yelling loudly.  

I mean he is emitting this high-pitched, horrifying noise at a decibel level similar to that of a jet engine.  If the pitch got much higher, I'm not sure I'd be able to hear it...But the dog next door might.

This is sweet Goose, waking up from a nap in his crib:

See how smiley he is?  He is like that most of the time.

This is my adorable, happy man in the shower:

And his loving face, yet again, in one of our family pictures:

I wanted to make a point of showing how cute and easygoing he normally is because....


...in the middle of the night, when Goose has decided he doesn't want to be in his crib by himself anymore, he begins to look more like this:

And, in short order, it becomes this:

 Not. Happy.

(Tell me that isn't the cutest crying baby you've ever seen, though?!)

So, we've ended up being relegated to a routine of 

back and forth, 

picking up, 

rocking, 

putting down, 

screaming, 

crying, 

"I-Am-Awake-And-Don't-Care-That-It-Is-4AM-I-Want-You-To-Play-With-Me"-ing.

And lots of frustration for all us.

Well, not so much for Tink.  

As the nighttime shenanigans are going on, he typically looks like this:

See? It doesn't faze him.

It does faze this girl, however.

Letting Goose "cry it out" doesn't work.  

And I mean it doesn't work for him or for me.

He never stops screaming and I end up with frayed nerves.

Like, my whole body is tense and I want to join in with a crying fit of my own.

We can't just go get him and bring him to our bed for two reasons:

1. I don't want him thinking Mama has a "Mi bed es Su bed" mentality.  My bed is actually my bed, just as his bed is his bed.  And that is where he will sleep.  I need that for my own sanity (and the safety of my ribs since he thrashes around in his sleep).

2.  He (in the same fashion as Tink did when he was little) seems to believe that being put in Mama's bed means it is playtime.  Like, jump around, giggle, perform WWE moves on a sleeping Daddy... Anything besides lay down and go back to sleep. 

Goose is now just over 15 months old.  

15 months old. 

So, this mean 15 months of no full nights of sleep.  

15 months of nightly frustration, being a walking Zombie, near insanity, trying every trick in the book, attempting to figure out what he needs in order to peacefully sleep through a night in his crib.... And failing.


Until this week.


Apparently, all we needed to do is have The Hubs walk in, tell Aiden in a stern but loving voice that there is no reason to be crying... 
That he needs to lay down and close his eyes.... 
That it is time to go night-night.


And that is it.  


I kid you not.  


I know.  Try to pick your jaw up from the floor.  


15 MONTHS of the midnight-fits game and all he needed was to be told to stop and go back to sleep?!

The first time, I thought it was a fluke.  
I had to go check on him after a few minutes.  
I was afraid he'd either:
 A.) Strangled himself with his blanket and that was why he was no longer crying
 or 
B.) The Hubs may have thrown a right hook and Goose had stopped crying because he wasn't conscious.


Ok, I'm kidding about that part.  Don't call DCFS.  We don't hit our kids.


I was afraid he may have strangled himself, though.  
Crazy mama worries.  Whatever.


When he came back to bed, I asked The Hubs what he had done to get him quiet and in his crib.  I thought there was surely something I'd missed.
His answer? 
"I told him to go to sleep."


Un-friggin'-believable.


I would give him credit for that, but my bitterness just won't let me do it.


UPDATE:


I started this particular blog post about a week ago.  
Let me just say that The Hubs' magic has seemed to be short-lived.


Unfortunately.


But, the boys started back to school today.  Winter break is over and they are no longer staying at home with me all day, with the three of us staring at each other.  I'm really hoping they will come home worn out from running crazy at school.  And, as a result, sleep long and hard.  


Say a prayer.  We need it.  


Both for them sleeping better and The Hubs & I keeping our sanity.