Growth Spurts and Sleep Deprivation

For the past few days, Lily just hasn't been herself. She hasn't slept for more than 2 hours straight at night, and we're lucky if we get in a 1 hour nap during the day. Naturally, she hasn't been a ball of joy while she's been awake. She has been what Carl and I affectionately call her during these moods, a "grumpy grumpster". We were naturally concerned about the cause of this recent change. The thermometer assured us of no fever. I haven't changed my diet recently, so not likely an issue with her food. No changes in environment or routine either. After talking it over with the nurse at the Pediatrician's office, we came to the conclusion that it is most likely a growth spurt.

It is funny how just knowing the probable cause of her grumpiness is so comforting even though there's nothing we can really do about it. I think the real solace is actually in the fact that we can't do anything about it. I would hate to think that she is uncomfortable for any reason and that there is something that I could have done to prevent it or could have done to make her feel better. With a growth spurt, we just have to ride it out and know that our typical, pleasant little Lily will return soon.

Lily's lack of sleep of course led to my own dose of sleep deprivation. This made life much more colorful over the past couple of days. Here are a few examples of mundane tasks that seemed near impossible to complete recently:

• Going to the grocery store. I had approximately 8 items on my list that I had written, yet I could not keep track of what I had gotten and what I still needed which resulted in circling the entire grocery store about 5 times.
• Making a phone call. After I went to get the Pediatrician's number (which was upstairs), I could not remember where I put the phone. I honestly looked for the phone for a full minute or two before realizing that it was in my hand.
• Doing laundry. Washing Lily's diapers is fairly easy: cold soak (no detergent), hot wash (with detergent), and dry. After many weeks of repeating this process, I just could not get it together enough to match the right temperature with the right setting.
• Speaking. Forming sentences requires being able to form coherent thoughts, and this just wasn't happening yesterday. Carl was talking about a group that he co-founded in college, the League for Environmental Awareness/Protection. And I said, "Oh yeah, LIFT." Even had I not gone to the same college as Carl and been there when he started this organization, a normal functioning person could have come up with the correct acronym - LEAP.

Luckily, growth spurts are short-lived, and I can already detect a difference in Lily's demeanor today. I think the sweet little girl that we know and love is beginning to peek through the altered version that we've experienced recently. We are hoping to have a pleasant weekend, especially because Lily's Granny Janny and Great Grandma Murphy have come all the way from Illinois and Indiana, respectively, to visit us. We are keeping our fingers crossed...Happy weekend to everyone!