I guess it's a failing of mine that I believe that for everything, on some level, there's some kind of rational explanation. The explanation might be as basic as, "It seemed like a good idea at the time," but it's there.
Enter Penelope...
Lately she's started this thing where she cries. And cries. And cries. And nothing makes her happy. Not standing and swaying. Not walking around. Not singing to her. Not active play. Not quiet time. Not floor play. Not trying to sit. Not sitting and watching ourselves in the mirror. Not sitting in the car seat. Not lying in the crib. Not watching the mobile. Nothing. And she's been fed, and her diaper is clean, and... she just cries. And cries. And really, all Liz and I can do is to do whatever we can that makes her cry a little less, and pass her back and forth often enough that neither of us goes completely off the deep end.
She just had her 4-month check-up on Friday, and she got praise for how healthy she was, and how happy she was (for the visit, she really was quite cheery), and nothing was wrong, and everything was good, and they'd see us again in two months. They were wrong, because we're bringing her back tomorrow. Because this can't be right. This is wrong. It's not right for what was just a week ago a happy baby to cry and scream and wail for hours on end, stopping only to eat and sleep. And if they say nothing's wrong, I don't know what else to do. This can't be right.
Something has got to be wrong.
Posted by Matt at December 15, 2003 08:13 PMMorning after update: The doctor says it looks like Penny's got a mild virus that she'll just have to push through. She gave us a handout on diarrhea (ah, the joys of parenting) and a specimen jar to collect a sample in if it doesn't stop in a day or so.
And, really, it does make it a lot better to know that something is causing her to be so unhappy, and it's not just her true personality showing through, or something that we're failing to do for her.
Posted by: Matt on December 16, 2003 02:26 PMAh, the joys of parenthood. First, you really wish they could speak, so that they could just tell you what was wrong so you could fix it. Then, you wish they'd just stop being so opinionated for five minutes and put on a diaper, even though you're completely out of the Elmo Swimming Pull-Ups and only have either Big Bird in Pajamas or the Princesses.
Either way, it's a blast.
No, really.
Posted by: mithy on December 19, 2003 11:38 AM