Anyone looking for some fried brain?

I had this post all laid out in my head about how great of a weekend we had.  I was going to write about how we finally took Zach’s pacifier away and how well it was going.  I was going to write about how much fun we had going to my nephew’s soccer game and picking out pumpkins at Red Barn Farm.  But those things all seem like distant memories now after the night we had last night.  It’s a good thing we have pictures because my brain is fried today thanks to a certain little two-year-old who decided there was no need to sleep last night.

I think I might have managed to get about four hours of sleep last night total and for a pregnant woman who wants to sleep all day long, that really isn’t enough.  I feel like I spent all night out at a smoky bar knocking down shots, but I didn’t even get to enjoy it.  Zach was in a fine mood this morning of course, but I’m not looking forward to the report when I pick him up from day care since he spent most of the night screaming and thrashing around instead of sleeping.

I want to blame it on the pacifier.  We took the pacifier away Friday night (with the help of a friend who offered to keep him for the night).  My friend, who is also Zach’s previous day care provider, managed to convince Zach to throw away his “noonie” while he was at her house.  He went all night without it and did very well, so I decided this was the weekend we were going to get rid of it for good. 

He did really well throughout the weekend without his pacifier.  There were a few minor breakdowns with begging and tears, but I stuck to my guns and didn’t give in.  I kept telling him that we threw all the noonies away and that since he was a big boy now he didn’t need them.  The tears would subside after a few minutes and some creative distraction techniques.  I was really proud of him for handling it as well as he did.  I expected much more screaming and definitely more tantrums.

All was well until last night.  I started trying to get Zach to bed around 8:30, which is his usual time.  He was fighting the bedtime routine a bit, but I figured I could get him settled down.  Apparently I was wrong.  He kept getting up and crying giving me those sad little puppy dog eyes until I caved and let him stay up just a little longer.  I didn’t manage to actually get him in bed until after 10:00, and that was only because I took him to bed with me.

Then he woke up.  Sometime around 2:00 a.m. he woke up crying.  I’m not even sure he was completely awake at the time, but the crying was loud and would not stop.  Then came the thrashing, hitting, and kicking.  The more I tried to figure out what was wrong the more angry he seemed to get.  Then he started screaming for the noonie.  I wanted so badly to just go back to sleep that I almost gave in.  I really, truly, considered getting up and giving him the dang pacifier just to make it stop.  Then I realized that it would ruin all of the progress he had made over the weekend so I sucked it up and just tried to hold him.

Eventually, he gave up asking for the noonie and asked to go watch TV.  So I let him.  I couldn’t calm him down and I knew that the TV would soothe him a bit, so I unfolded the futon and we watched TV.  While he watched Little Bear and his friends, I cried a bit inside because I wanted so badly just go back to sleep already.  When the show was finally over, we turned the TV off and went back to bed where he proceeded to chatter for the next 45 minutes or so before finally going to sleep.  We both slept restlessly for the remaining 2 hours or so that we had before it was time to get up.  I spent most of that time contemplating how a 33-pound two-year-old could manage to practically push me off the edge of the bed.

It’s a good thing he’s so cute most of the time, because otherwise I think I’d be ready to trade him in today.  All I can think of is what in the heck am I going to do when I have two?