The Un-Pacifier

So Amber is working tonight, which means I have to figure out how to get Emerson to bed. Since, I don't have the almighty ta-tas, typically when I'm home with him during the day, I feed him and then take him out on a walk and he falls asleep for his mid-day nap. But I'd rather him sleep in his bed rather than his stroller at night...

At 7pm, he started fussing, which I wondered if it were a sign of being hungry more than tired since he usually goes to bed at 8. So I putg him in his highchair (which he really fought) to feed him some yams/carrots homemade baby food. Either he wasn't interested or was just way too tired, because instead of eating the food, as he normally does, he starting "talking" (quite loudly too) and made these weazing noises that he has recently started doing. There's Emerson talking with food in his mouth, yams dribbling out of the corner. I think he thought this was funny.

Since that didn't work, I gave him a bottle with a of milk and took him upstairs. I walked him around as he ate, and he seemed to be settling in. And then I ran out of milk and he wasn't very happy. I didn't want to give him more milk, for fear that I'd give him a bellyache, and gave him a "Nuk" pacifier to see if he would take that and go to bed. And to my surprise, he actually did take it and start settling down. So I laid down next to him in our guest bed, hoping for the best. He then started playing with the pacifier, which he often does, as he sometimes puts the hard side part in his mouth instead, apparently because its more soothing on his teething gums. So, I started singing to him to get him from "playing with the pacifier" mode to sleep mode. He, indeed, was calming down again, and then suddenly he began screaming. I reached my hand over to the front of his face (it was dark and he was facing away from me) to discover that somehow he had managed to turn the pacifier around, put the handle in his mouth, and get it stuck sideways between his tongue and the roof of his mouth (ouch!). A teething child hurts his mouth. Now that's a double wammy.

So I immediately tried to come up with ways to calm him. I gave him some teething tablets and a touch of baby tylenol and that didn't really help. So I gave him a different kind of pacifier that we got from the hospital when he was born. Emerson has traditionally favored the "soothie" over the other pacifiers (when he takes them, which is rare these days anyway), so I thought it would calm him down. To add to the pacifier, I took him out on the front porch, which usually distracts him from whatever he's upset about. Apparently, the soothie wasn't soothing enough, as he kept pushing on it with his hand and moving it around. Again, he's often chewed on the side of this pacifer too and played with it (I sometimes wonder if he thinks its just like any other toy). But this time, he managed to get the entire thing into his mouth! Honestly, I still can't believe he did that because it makes me gag just to put the whole thing in my mouth (yes, I actually tried). I pulled it out immediately, and alas, had to opt for a different soothing technique.

I took him on a walk. Didn't work. He was just past the point of needing to go to bed that he started crying and trying to turn circles in his stroller. Finally, I gave him a bottle, and he calmed down, almost went to sleep instantly. When the bottle ran out, and he still wasn't asleep, I put him on my shoulder and he fell asleep (which doesn't happen very often). But then when I tried to lay him down in his crip a few minutes later he woke up and started crying again (ugh). I picked him up, and he burped really loud (nice). Back to the bottle again. Finally, after six ounces of milk (he usually only drinks 4 at a time) and nearly two hours later, he was asleep. Maybe I can start on some of my homework now...