Patience & Snuggeling

Over the last week Evan has had several days where he has been quit fussy. Crying almost the whole time that he is awake unless he is eating. When a baby cries you check four things:

1. Are they hungry?
2. Is their diaper dirty?
3. Do they have gas and need to be burped?
4. Are they too hot or too cold?

If the answer to all of these questions is 'no' as it has been on a frequent basis these last few days then there isn't really much you can do to try and consul him. Often even rocking and patting and cou-ing (sp?) wouldn't calm Evan down. He just felt the need to cry :)

Needless to say all of this crying, both during the day and at night really wore me down. In fact yesterday morning I could not get him to calm down and I was at my wits end on what to do. Finally I just left for work as I couldn't figure out how to help him. Luckily mom has an infinite amount of more patience then dad and she staid with him.

It is really hard when Evan get this way and it often makes me frustrated inside because there is seemingly nothing wrong with him and yet he way-lays my best attempts to settle him.

Then, last night, mom had small group so dad was going to watch Evan for the whole night. I wasn't exactly looking forward to this after the rough few days before but I said well let's go for it!!

Mom fed Evan right before she left and he seemed like he was in a pretty good mood. After about 45 minutes of awake time I decided it was time for a nap for both of us as I was exhausted from all of the crying the night before. I put Evan on the couch and I laid down next to him so we could nap together, thinking that if he gets fussy I wouldn't have to get up to comfort him since he would be right there. After a few minutes Evan started to wiggle my way on the couch so I had to move him towards the back so I wouldn't fall off. He did this again and so I moved him again. Then the third time he did it, I realized he just wanted to be close to his Dad. So Evan and I snuggled on the couch for almost 2 hours.

I woke up feeling not just renewed in my body from the sleep but renewed in my soul. It was so amazing to have been so frustrated with him and my abilities as a dad that morning to be so clearly loved and needed by him that night.

Parenting is certainly an amazing journey and I seem to be learning more and more everyday. We are so so blessed to have Evan and the wonderful gift that he is.