15 months + sleeping, or lack thereof

Recently I had my 15 month check-up, and all went well. I continue to be very very tall for my age, and heavy too, with an average sized head circumference. The doctor was surprised by all my words, since the basic milestone at my age is 3 to 6 words besides mama and dada (according to his handout.)  

Here are my stats for Nonno G:

     Height = 33.75 inches = 85.73 cm
     Weight = 25 lbs 6 oz = 11.5 kg

Everything was going smoothly (aside from the vaccinations, ouch), when my parents decided to bring up the issue of me not sleeping through the night, and how hard it is to put me down for naps. They sounded desperate. (The past month has been particularly terrible.) The doctor’s response was, "He seems like a happy guy, so don’t worry about letting him cry it out, he’ll wear himself out within an hour and fall asleep eventually…"

“I’ll show him,” I thought to myself. 

So they tried it that night...and I cried and screamed and fussed and bounced and chatted and cried and called out “book!” and "all done!" and refused to go to sleep. For hours. We were up all night long. Finally I fell asleep for one hour in my mom’s arms, between 5:30am and 6:30am. Then pop, I was awake again and ready to play!  My parents could barely function, but they got up to care for me. After a bit, they changed my diaper, but once it was off, I refused to let them put on a new one! So here I was, running around the house with no clothes, one sock on and one sock off, laughing...and I swear I saw my parents shaking their heads in disbelief, and start laughing too. I never cease to amaze them! (p.s. Don't put this picture on FB!)

I finally fell asleep again in my mom’s arms at 9:30am for three hours, both of us in her big bed, but I'd immediately scream if she tried to shift my position or put me beside her (her arms had fallen asleep and her leg was cramping, but hey, I was comfortable.)  I know this sounds selfish of me, but I think she secretly loved it because I'm not usually Mr. Cuddly!

The rest of the week wasn't much different, and one night my mom even slept on the wooden floor next to my crib, to help lessen my anxiety. It kinda worked - for me at least - but I guess it's not a very sustainable solution…

Anyways, so here’s what’s going on.

I’m teething like crazy, getting my 16th tooth in, up top. Most of my little friends my age have about 8 teeth. Plus, I’ve got a lingering cold and am a bit congested through the nose. And I’m finally starting to develop some separation anxiety (which apparently peaks between 15-18 months old), and at night it's the worst. Plus, I'm naturally active, as everyone can tell. Put them all together...and you've got a sleep-avoider, day and night! So much for the medical web sites that say 15 month olds need 14 hours of sleep per day. Or all that advice about how important it is to keep me on daily schedule. Ha!

And yet, somehow, I still manage to be a pretty happy and (fiercely) independent guy when I'm not battling going to bed. I love having visitors, dancing, reading my books, taking long walks, learning new things, and chatting all day. But mostly, I just love exploring the world around me.

On a side note, my mom called the advice nurse the other day, as she was a bit scared seeing my tantrum escalate to never-before-seen levels during my supposed nap time. The nurse's advice? Get used to it, he's a strong willed child, and a Sagittarius. 

Good advice, I'd say. I may scream and cry when it's time to sleep or if I don't get what I want, but as long as I get my way, I'm content. :)  It could be worse!

Yours truly - Overtired Baby G (and his Very Tired Parents)

p.s. Here are some of my latest words...

foglie (leaves)
sole (sun)
latte (milk)
natale (christmas)
airplane
wheel
sock
caca
circle
triangle
albero (tree)
phone
phoebe (our cat)
you
fish
off
up
chicken (the other day I was eating lamb, and I asked for "more chicken")
uova (egg)
chi e' (who is it?)
opa! (I don't know the translation)
vincent (van gogh, from my book on feelings)
via! vai! (go!)
and several numbers and letters and a few relatives' names