Nightmarish Madness!!!

Today I woke up to...  nothing...  Can that be?  Where is the crying baby?  Could it be?  Yes!!  Micah slept through from 11 last night until 7 this morning!  Hooray!  It may have happened yesterday too, but as I go into autopilot when he wakes up through the night, I wasn't too sure!  I thought it happened, but thought it was too good to be true!  But it's true!  My baby is sleeping through at almost 14 months!  I know God knew that I needed this, as the couple of nights before this had been a complete nightmare...  with good reason though:  Last week, Wednesday, myself and Micah got ready for a quick trip up to Pretoria.  As it was an unplanned trip, Jethro stayed home with Tony and fortunately for us, Grandie was also there spending a couple of days. This same Wednesday was also the day that Micah started getting sick.  But tickets booked and family waiting, we made our way to the airport and sat through a 2 hour flight, playing peekaboo and singing lullabies and doing everything in my ability to keep my 1 year old from screaming at the top of his lungs.  There was not a chance of sleeping - that I found out the hard way (15 minutes crying non-stop) and so I finally reverted from Soother to Clown.  Thankfully we had no one sitting next to us, cause the last thing I wanted was an audience!

My little blessing, Micah

We finally arrive at OR Thambo in Jo'burg but in vain I looked for an airport trolley.  Oh well, I was very proud of my small amount of luggage and I was sure that I could manage without one.  I grabbed my smallish suitcase with wheels and then my backpack.  So, now I have baby on one arm, nappy bag and handbag on the other, backpack on my back and suitcase in my hand.  I appreciate the admiring glances from other mommies who also don't have any trolleys.  I expect my sister to be waiting for me at the drop and go but much is my relief when I see her as I walk into the terminal.  She immediately lightens my load and off we go.

First night, passed relatively uneventful, as it was quite late when we arrived in Pretoria.  Micah is used to sleeping in his cot, in his room.  So, this is where the trouble starts.  We laid down a mattress for him next to my bed, but during the night he got up and slept next to me.  It was lovely to have him next to me.  And he did not make too much fuss (well, my memory fails me, that can only be a good sign).

The next day we drove through to Louis Trichardt, also known as Makhado.  A beautiful little town in Northern Limpopo.  This is where my little sis lives with my parents.  It was lovely to see everyone and for the cousins to have some bonding time.  But little Micah was attached to me like "a stamp to a letter, a bird to a feather, we stick together...".  Yes, it was that bad.  Not for a moment could I leave the room, when he would start wailing.  At bedtime, he was so tired, or overtired, that it was hard to get him to eat anything or even to have a bath.  So, for the next couple of days our bedtime routine went as follows:  

19h00:  Screaming, overtired, sick, very curious baby goes to sleep. *HUGE sigh of relief*

20h00:  Screaming, overtired, sick, very curious baby wakes up. *HUGE sigh of despair*

20h00 - 23h00:  Screaming, overtired, sick, very curious baby screams. *A whole lot of MASSIVE sighs of despair*

23h00:  Exhausted, screaming, overtired, sick, very curious baby and mommy goes to sleep in intervals of 30 minutes.

So, as you can see, we did not have much fun and I did not have much time to chat and spend with my family.  In short it was a nightmarish trip.  I could not wait for it to be over, as I just wanted Micah's cot and his own environment.

On a better note though, I loved seeing all my family.  We live so far apart, so the time we get to see one another is precious.  During this time I was spoilt to a beautiful Meerlust Rubicon wine (2006??), a delicious braai of ribs, an absolutely devine stew cooked on an open fire (braai) by a man, a mouthwatering bean soup (have to get my sister to share that recipe), a devine beef fillet with a scrumptious mushroom sauce on the side - thank you Mom.  Wow!  And I say the trip was nightmarish??  But the company and the food was great!  Cause I have an amazing family!

And now we are back in the fairest of the fairest capes, Cape Town.  Micah is no longer sick - thank you Murphy.  And we've noticed his 5th little tooth making it's appearance - top left, next to his front teeth :)