Growth spurt

Last week, Noah went through what is called a growth spurt (though I have LOTS of other names for it, not least of which is the-week-in-which-I-never-got-ANY-sleep). A growth spurt means basically that the baby wants to be fed every hour, day and night. This went on for about 6 days, and just when I was finally at my breaking point, he turned the corner and slept till 4 a.m. It was not only exhausting from a sleeplessness standpoint, it was emotionally trying because I was afraid that he was hungry because I wasn't making enough milk for him (really he's just eating more often to cue my body to make more milk, but because my supply dried up at 4 months with Nathan, I was worried that this was happening again). Luckily, I made it through with emotional support- not from my husband, who kept asking if he should pick up formula and fed Noah bottles when I wasn't looking- but from a few friends, one who has been there done that and one who is in the same boat as me right now. As soon as we passed the growth spurt, I noticed that he was feeding less often during the day (still not sleeping through the night, but surely this is a step in the right direction). They really do make significant changes overnight when they hit a physical or mental growth spurt!

Having to get up so much during the night reminded me that I haven't had a full night of uninterrupted sleep in just under a year. I'm really looking forward to that, but I'm not counting on it anytime soon. Last night, as soon as I fell back asleep after the 3:00 a.m. feeding, I heard Nathan yelling that he had to pee. I went in there to take him to the bathroom, and he kept saying "hurry, before the scary gets me?" After he got done peeing, he just started crying and explained to me that there were monsters in his room and they were coming to get him (I have no idea where he got this from). I asked him how to get rid of monsters, and he told me by turning on the light. So we went in his room and turned on his Lightning McQueen lamp, but apparently it didn't work, because he wanted to come into my bed and that was non-negotiable. I NEVER let Nathan sleep in my bed, but last night I made an exception in the interest of at least getting SOME rest and not having a cranky two year old the next day. My last thought as I drifted off was how thankful I am for having a king bed :)