What the YELL?

Yeah... I don't know what's going on with Blogger tonight, but it appears to me that I missed the rule stating that only I would be unable to upload videos of my children whenever the heck I wanted to. What gives? 3 tries, 25 minutes later, same old error message. Darn it anyway. No videos tonight folks.

So let's talk about Lincoln. A topic that's especially fresh on my mind since we just won the battle at Cry Central Station. As I mentioned before, Lincoln is just generally calm and content. That is, until bedtime as of late. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what factor we're overlooking, but he seems to have a very (very) particular window of opportunity to be put to bed. By this I mean, the exact constellation of the stars, the direction of the wind, the heat index and the barometric pressure MUST be factors taken into consideration for Lincoln to willingly submit to sleep effortlessly. Some nights we can lay him down after a warm bottle and he'll suck his thumb quietly while he looks around and falls asleep without a peep. And then there are nights like tonight. I just hate to even retell the woe of tonight. Just around 8:00 (not unusual) his clinging and thumb sucking begins and I prepare his bottle. We cuddly up quietly in our comfy chair and Little Guy sucks down his bottle and begins lays contentedly for all of 2 minutes. Just then, the squirming starts and the crying and the climbing and the headache. Mine, not his. In some cases, it's crucial to put him into his crib at this juncture to give him his space and fall asleep. In the past 11 months, if I've learned only one thing, it's that Lincoln doesn't love to be rocked to sleep like his big sis. Sometimes this agrees with him; most times, not.

So,tonight I lay him in his crib. The screaming crying (scry-ing) begins. And the hollering crying (crollering). Not a fan of either. And then... I wait. Five minutes is really all I can take before I have to go rescue my baby from his misery. And trust me, I watch the clock like it's my job. I go into save my baby from his crying mess of himself and the cycle repeats, only minus the bottle. Oh, and don't even think about sitting down with him, much less trying to rock him. No no. Only standing will be permitted.

I just have to mention that we're pretty regimented here in this household. Not at all strict with timing (hello! I'm always running late!), but we aim for consistency and let things fall where they may. Still I am in denial that Lincoln's latest cry fest bedtime will be accepted into our regularly scheduled plans. I can't take this every night. What is going on with this guy? I can presume everything. Hungry? Teething? Over- stimulated? Over-tired? Separation anxiety? Environmental factors not in alignment (see above). WHAT already?

God, if I could only sleep until about Friday...