I Turned Off the Monitor... And Survived

Recently, Mr. Monkey has been waking up a lot in the middle of the night and so have I.  He hasn't been asking for food, just waking up and then being soothed back to sleep.  Since we are in a loft, I've been getting up a lot quicker than I would in a house so 1) he doesn't wake up Brian who gets up early for work, and 2) he doesn't wake up any neighbors.

One REALLY tired day, I started to wonder why he was doing this in Atlanta but never did this in Cedar Park... he slept through the night for almost a month in CP (and I'm talking 10 - 12 hours, no this weird 5-6 hours that supposedly defines "sleeping through the night"... whose night is that?).  Anyway... I started to wonder if the monitor wasn't the culprit.

I love our monitor.  It's a video monitor and in our house in CP it was perfect - especially for a first time mom.  I could see if Evan was just fussing or really waking up.  It was also helpful here once Monkey started rolling over in bed at night... because I could see if he really needed help or was just complaining.  But, it has some downfalls in the loft (like most things we are finding out):

1. 
   
   There is a lot of metal in the loft... because it's an industrial design.  Due to this, there is a lot of interference in the monitor which leads to REALLY annoying static unless you find the perfect place for it.
2. 
   
   The monitor picks up every little noise.  I can hear Monkey sigh, and I can hear the person next door talking.  The problem is, Monkey's sigh can sounds just as loud as a cry when I'm sleeping.  So I wake up to it all.
3. 
   
   I have a theory that Monkey can hear himself on the monitor when he is crying.  I think he hears the echo and likes the sound - this makes him cry even more.

So, I was complaining about this to my mom and she said: "Turn off the monitor.  We didn't have them when you were a baby.  Promise me, you will still be able to hear him."  Huh, turn off the monitor?  But what would I do?  Could I do it? It was such a revelation that I needed a leap of faith to try it.

And, I tried it.  There was no fuzz anymore so Brian slept better.  I didn't wake up to every sigh so I slept better.  And I did hear when he cried.  Of course, I have no idea if he is still waking up in the middle of the night (which would be around midnight because he still wakes up a 4AM / 5AM daily) since I can't hear the little wake-ups but I've found I don't care.  If he is waking up, he is obviously going back to sleep.

You see, I turned off the monitor and I survived... and so far Mr. Monkey has survived too:

Monkey hanging out on the floor in his bedroom.

Monkey... just being Monkey.

And now for something completely different...

I took Monkey to a Baby Sign Times storytime today (to get us out of the house, around other babies, and because I'm teaching him American Sign Language for babies).  I was "showing off" how he can stand if I hold his little hands.  Everyone was oohing and aahing over his abilities and cuteness and my tired little guy fell to his bottom.  Before I could grab him, he face planted right on the carpet and cried.  I was playing with him a few minutes later (after calming him down) and he had some dried blood around one nostril. But don't worry, my mom assured me he didn't break his nose. 

I so do NOT win the good parent award today.