Memories

Lately Claire has been teething. This is no fun (for either of us) and has brought back some not so distant memories of when Claire was a lot more difficult. Some people call it colic, others call it having an abnormally fussy baby and still others call it bad luck, to us it was just Claire. Claire was especially difficult from about 3 weeks old until about 9 weeks old (many of you are thinking, "only 6 weeks?" and to you I say: 6 weeks is a long time when you aren't sleeping! And also: I said "especially fussy," she was still plenty fussy before and after that). During this time both Matt and I truly thought we would lose our minds and I think we did at times. Claire cried a lot(we would have to put in earplugs to hold her sometimes because she would be screaming so loud in our ears). She would cry if I put her down, she would cry if I picked her up, she would cry if I sat down, she would cry if I stood up. It often felt like I could do nothing right for her. 

Her favourite thing was when I did squats or lunges with her in my arms, but I could only do this for so long and inevitably she would start crying again. The worst part of all the crying was when I thought I had finally put her to sleep (usually some time in the wee hours of the morning) and I would lay her in her crib without her stirring at all and sneak out the door and crawl into my nice warm, cozy bed and even though she couldn't see me or hear me, she would always cry the moment my head hit the pillow (that was the most torturous feeling in the world, especially when I hadn't slept in what felt like forever). There was a week in there when she wouldn't sleep at all unless I was holding her. That was a long week. 
After about 9 weeks she stopped crying so much at night but getting her to take a nap was torture (for both of us). During these trying days I really couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel and was completely convinced that this was how my life was going to be forever. Looking back now I realize how short of a season it really was. Now Claire sleeps through the night, she rarely cries before naps and loves bed time, and 

when she does get upset I can usually figure out what is bothering her and remedy it quite quickly. There are still trying times but for the most part Claire is an absolute joy.