Sleep Charlie!! Sleep Already.

This is probably a post I'll want to delete tomorrow, but oh well. This is not a sugar-coated blog :)

Charlie has now had four bad nights in a row where he's woken up at 2 a.m. and stayed up until about 4 a.m. Then he often wakes up around 5:45 or 6-ish and is awake for a while.

And thus was the case this morning. It is now 8:45 a.m. and he has been awake for the last three hours. Of course Eli is still asleep (he had a hard time falling asleep last night) and I keep wishing Charlie would fall asleep so I could close my eyes and go back to bed.

Sleep Charlie!! Sleep already.

I am going on almost 6 weeks of disjointed sleep. My wrists are sore from constantly patting Charlie's back as I bounce, rock, or pace with him through the night and during the day. This morning I tried laying Charlie in bed next to me from about 7 to 7:15 a.m., but he grew fussy pretty fast. I tried putting him in the bouncy seat next to my bed and laid there on my bed while I pushed on the seat to rock him... but that failed too. Now we're downstairs and Charlie is finally somewhat content in the seat staring at the light coming in from the window as I rock the seat with my foot. I can't believe he's still awake (or that Eli is still asleep). I really miss my 7-9 a.m. babysitter who finished up last week.

I feel bad for the poor child. He STILL has the same yucky cold and coughs constantly. He is often gassy and uncomfortable. He is often fussy and squirmy in my arms and doesn't last long when I put him in the Baby Bjorn, Beco carrier, Moby wrap, sling... but still dislikes being put down.

On Saturday I left the boys with Ben and was gone for a few hours getting some things done - when I came back early in the afternoon, Eli was napping and Ben was still in his pajamas and holding Charlie on the couch after struggling to keep him happy. Ben asked me, "Does Charlie stress you out? He stresses me out."

Why did everyone convince me when I was pregnant that my second child was going to be easy?

He's not.

I love Charlie. I love how snuggly he is when he finally falls asleep in my arms. He has just started to smile occasionally, which is very cute. But I am exhausted from the constant movement and energy required to keep this kid from crying. I really hope reaching the 6-week mark in a few days will be the magic turning point and things will improve from there.

And... he finally fell asleep. Guess who's waking up?? :)

Happy Pulaski Day...

Stressed-Out City

Chicago was recently named the most stressful city in America by Forbes magazine. New York, Detroit, L.A., and San Francisco are next in line.

Chicago apparently made the top because of its rising unemployment rate, expensive gas, high population density and relatively poor air quality. The magazine editors examined quality of life indicators like housing affordability and looked at how a city's environment can play a role in how the residents cope with stress.

Well, that's all fine and dandy. I will admit to feeling pretty stressed lately. But the media around here has picked this apart - my favorite response was from a Chicago Tribune reporter, John Kass. I wanted to include a few quotes from this article, who calls the Forbes article nonsense:

"For one thing, Chicagoans love crowds. Forty thousand stuff a tiny deteriorating ballpark every day to shriek, get drunk and wear funny blue hats, insisting they're going straight to the World Series without first stopping at something called "the playoffs." Crowds don't cause stress. Baseball causes stress."

Cubs fans take baseball VERY seriously around here. My parents went to today's game and I think it was a stressful, but rewarding experience since the Cubs finally won in the 12th inning :)

"Yes, there are crowds on public transportation, which I don't ride because I don't like getting coughed on by strangers who may have tuberculosis. And let's be realistic—is it truly stressful when you're packed into a hot, crowded train and your forearms and back are soaked with perspiration, but the perspiration isn't yours?

"My former legman, Mrs. Flynn, complained that there are creeps on the "L" who like to rub up against women, and others leave little greasy piles of chicken bones on the seats, and some CTA riders have been known to clip their toenails, sending shards zinging into the eyeballs of the guy across the aisle, but Forbes magazine didn't study these issues, so they don't count."

Gross!! Though I've never experienced any of the above myself - and neither has Ben, who rides the train every day. Okay, actually, I have ridden on a crowded, hot train and felt someone else's sweat on my arm. That was disgusting. But I've never seen the famed chicken bones...

"The mayor said no matter what Forbes says, Chicago has fantastic air."We have great air quality," he insisted. "…You don't think New York is stressed today? And London?"

Hello, Mayor Daley - Forbes was only comparing cities in AMERICA...