My Baby Doesn't Cry...She Screams

I swear its getting louder. We now enter a new stage of parenthood, the honeymoon phase is over & we are starting to realize what we are in for.  Little Miss Scarlett is living up to her name, well her temperament is anyway.  I guess we should have known better when we chose her name.

Some days she doesn't even warn us, just wakes up screaming.  Bad dream?  Maybe.  Gas pain?  Perhaps.  Hunger?  Likely, but not always.

Don't get me wrong, she can still be a sweet little angel, she will look up at you with her big eyes & make cute cooing & sighing sounds, & sometimes will even give you a genuine ear to ear smile (accompanied by a 'haha' sigh if you are lucky), this all just makes your day.  I have also become particularly fond of her moments of independence, when she will lay in her crib, kick, grunt & let out the occasional 'happy squeal' (I have no way to explain this, but I am sure existing parents must know what I am talking about).  Or she will just lay in your arms or her swing & baring an intense look of concentration, silently taking in the world around her.  Unfortunately, as of this past week (which felt like eternity), these moments have been further & fewer between.  

By no means do I claim that my baby is colicky - what I believe is an over-used & abused term that is too often taken out of context - out of respect to all those poor parents who actually have or have had colicky babies.  But she has been fussy when awake & I hope this is just a phase & not an increasing state that my poor child becoming.

We used to want to wake her up when she slept.  Now don't dare to wake her & hope that she stays sleeping for a while.

As new parents, we are learning how to understand & cope with the fussy moments.  We understand this is her only way of communicating with us the discomfort she is in, but that's about as far as our understanding goes (this lack of understanding become particularly prominent after a 2:00am feeding when our baby just won't go back to sleep).  These moments are made a little more copeable (I know that's not a real word, but just pretend it is) with both parents, as we can usually hand her off to the other half when we have had enough.  Yesterday, however, Dad decided to go out for a few hours (& I do not blame him, he - and the dog - need to get out once in a while). While they were gone, the baby had one of her 'moments', & although she had just been fed & changed, she was not letting up.  Dad had been gone for a few hours & I had enough.  I tried to hold her in all different positions, rock her, bounce her, (I dare not to sing to her when she is upset, it just makes it worse) nothing worked.  So I plopped her (gently of course) into her crib & left to let her cry.  After a couple ear piercing wails, she suddenly stopped & that was it.  I listened from the other side of the house as she grunted & squealed (but didn't scream), just to let me know that she was still there.  At one point she started up again, so I went in there & turned her head the other way & what do you know, she stopped again.  As soon a Dad walked through the door, she once again started up, & this time was very very mad.  I still don't know what the problem was.  Babies are so confusing.  Or maybe we parents are just confused.

So you read this & you think, "yup, I've been there," or even "had it worse," "its nothing new".  Maybe you think I don't even have a right to complain (too bad this is my blog).  But to us this is completely all new & all we know.  Perhaps we've been spoiled in our first couple weeks with a pretty relaxed baby & only now are we getting a taste of what new parents actually go through.  Regardless, I imagine there will be tougher times ahead (accompanying all those new & exciting milestones to come, of course) as little Scarlett continues to develop, rather express, her personality (aka temperament).  In the meantime I hope my little girl gets happier, as we are all happier when she is (even the dog).