Craziness Levels

For me, the absolute worst part of being a Mom are the unknowns…which are inevitable. I hate that I don’t always know why my children are crying, or what the cause is for a new fever, or why they suddenly wake up in the night after sleeping through for several weeks. I hate not knowing when they are going to go through a growth spurt, or when the next round of teeth will come in. The last 2.5 weeks have been chock full of unknowns and I feel myself slowly starting to lose touch with reality as I imagine the worst. It started with Will getting sick and then the rest of the family getting sick at various times with either strep or a stomach bug. Now it’s our transition to the new daycare center and some strange new phase Will is battling. Dooder is certifiably C.R.A.Z.Y! It started almost immediately after he recovered from strep. At first, I thought it was because he felt SO GOOD after feeling SO BAD for several days and he just couldn’t contain his energy and excitement. When it didn’t stop though, I started to wonder if it was something else. A growth spurt? A huge developmental leap? Of course none of those things can be diagnosed and treated. You just have to wait them out. So what is this kid doing that is so nutty? Let’s see…where do I start…

He runs……..and runs and runs…and doesn’t STOP running. He runs from the living room, to the kitchen, around the island, down the hall and back again. Over and over. Sometimes he’s yelling/screaming at the top of his lungs while he’s doing this and when he finally stops to catch his breath, he busts up with maniacal laughter. The other night he took a plastic piece of broccoli from the play kitchen, shoved it in his mouth and ran around to everyone…sticking his face in their faces and growling around the broccoli. Eventually he started foaming at the mouth with all of the built up saliva that must have been in there, and yet he continued. Have you ever seen a video of a truly hyperactive child? Like one who, without a doubt, should be on medication? That’s what Will is like! He’s all over the place and throwing his body around…and just being LOUD. We send him to his room at least 3 times between 5 & 7pm at night due to the screaming that he has decided is his new method of communication. And then there are the sleep issues…I hear him crying out a lot in his sleep and sometimes he can calm himself, but lately we have found it escalating quite a bit more. He goes from a typical tired cry, to his new SCREAMING, that very quickly grates on your nerves. I’ve found ways of muffling his protests, but there comes a point when I eventually give in and at least go in to change his diaper and try to settle him down because I don’t want Lili to wake up. There has also been the lovely 4:30am wake up call for the past 2 mornings, which has already gotten old. Will has always had a lot of energy and always been a pretty happy kid, he just seems amped up lately…..almost like someone is feeding him caffeine, or giving him speed when I’m not looking. If you are giving my kid speed, please STOP. It’s not good for him…and it’s not good for his Mommy! Today did seem a little better, though I don't want to get my hopes up. His craziness was knocked down a couple of notches, so now I'm praying that we see a rapid decline over the next couple of days as well. Only time will tell how my little booger will be...*SIGH*...