Tuesday morning Eric awakened just before five. We usually plop him in our bed and he goes back to sleep. Sometimes quicker than others. Yesterday he didn't. He kicked, thrashed, cried and whined. At around 6:30 AM he climbed over me and started running around the room like Chucky.

I was exhausted all day Wednesday. Tuesday night he slept through the night for the most part. Then last night he woke up fussing at 2:30. I'm sure it's the molars. They're coming in so slowly. It's driving us all nuts. So I gave him some ibuprofin rocked him and put him back in his crib. He wanted to come into bed with us. It's amazing how I can discern his cries. Last night he was angry at me for putting him in his crib. I can tell the difference between that, and a cry of pain. Or at least I think I can. The former sounds more forced and yell-y. The latter is shrill and desperate.

So, I kind of "ferber'd" him again. It took an hour to get him back to sleep. He'd lie down if I was in the room with him, but he'd give up after a few minutes and start yelling. So, I left him for about two minutes and let him yell, and then I went in and lay him back down, and then I'd leave. Then he'd start yelling again after about two minutes so I let him yell for five minutes, which felt like an eternity to me and Rich. Then I lay him down again and he went to sleep.

But I couldn't get back to sleep. I started sneezing and my nose was running nonstop for over an hour. So, I was late to work again, and I'm exhausted today. Eric seemed a little mad at me this morning, but I quickly realized that it was in my head. How can we deal with this sleep conundrum without making ourselves sick or crippling ourselves with guilt?