Sleep, tears, and tickles

For the last week or so Aila has not been sleeping well. She wakes up every 1-2 hours and wants to be held or nursed all night long. She cries a lot; she won't eat as much as she was (not losing weight, though), and I've been blaming it on her teeth for several months now. She has at least 4 teeth coming that you can see, and another 2 that I think are on there way, but nothing has broken through yet! To make matters worse...at first I thought this was sweet...she doesn't want much to do with anyone except me! I have been EXHAUSTED to say the absolute least!!! I was at a breaking point with her. I thought maybe if we tried some cereal, she would start eating better all around, and her sleep would improve. NOPE...as my brother used to tell me, "that's what you get for thinking!"
tried cereal on Sat...
she tood 3 bites...
she screamed...
tried again on Sun...
she took 5 bites...
she screamed!

Picture 5.5 month old baby standing atop my limp body...her hands are raised high in victory...she slowly climbs down off my body, attaches the puppet strings, and moves in to position behind the curtain...cue dancing mommy

I felt as if I had no choice...
I had nothing left in me...
I had given up...
I had been beat down by a 5.5 month old...
I left her to, as they say, "cry it out".
13:34- Aila in crib...awake, but sleepy
13:34-13:40- Aila awake and happy in her crib
13:40-14:18- Aila screaming like mad! (all in all...38 minutes...not bad!)

Later that night
20:55- Aila in crib...awake, but sleepy
20:55-20:59- Aila awake and happy in her crib
20:59-21:19- Aila screaming like mad! (much improved...only 20 minutes. Of note, I cried more than she did during this process!)

Even later that night
22:07- Aila in crib...awake, but sleepy
22:07-22:07- Aila not too terribly unhappy
22:07-22:19- Aila screaming like mad! (when I say "like mad" this time, I mean screaming, with a hoarse voice, with exhaustion, which is not as "like mad" as the first and second descriptions! YEAH! Success, right?

Monday says....RIGHT! Aila napped well all day. She was put in her crib awake for each of her naps today, and cried for less than 10 minutes each time. Tonight, when I put her down, she didn't cry AT ALL! WOOOHOOOO!

Funny thing is, each time she finally quit crying, I went in to check on her to make sure she was still breathing ;)...for a baby who has been so used to being swaddled to go to sleep, I found it absolutely hilarious that she would finally fall asleep like this:



I also FINALLY found a good tickle spot! I've tried to tickle her tummy before, but I guess I never hit the right spot...well, found it! hehehe!