Rolling In the Deep

Last Monday was a rough day by Potter standards. George has struggled with I have no idea what, maybe a growth spurt, but he has typically had me up for two nightly feedings again for the past couple of weeks. It really is like newborn-land again around here, as I'm rounding out an average of 4.5 hours of sleep a night. Of course, because he is actually a three-month-old and not a newborn he doesn't sleep all day long like a newborn does (plus I have Silas to keep me busy), so once we're up with George, we're essentially up for the day. This is all okay, and in the grand scheme of things it's really not a big deal. I know how to function on small amounts of sleep over a prolonged period because I am a mother. And I'm not comfortable with letting George cry it out yet because he does have a legitimate medical concern, and the fact remains that his body weight has dropped from the 49th percentile down to the 29th percentile in the span of the past month.

So that's the background. Now on Monday we had our typical small amount of sleep, but I also had a very cranky George on my hands. He simply would not sleep, though I knew he was exhausted, and this stubborn little man was awake and unhappy from noon to 9:30pm. Much of it he was wailing and was only comforted when he was nursing. I'm human though, and I just can't have another being sucking on me for nine and a half hours, and the paci was no consolation! By the time BJ made it home from work, I felt frazzled and had already reached out to Chanda and Sommer, my two main go-to's. (Thanks to both of you, by the way, for taking time out of your days!) BJ took the boys outside to shoot some hoops and get some fresh air, and I reveled in the glory of the house to myself while I made dinner for us all. I'm telling you now that I have discovered a cure for myself in such situations, and it involves blasting Adele's "21" album, drinking a delicious beer, and dancing in the kitchen while making dinner. By the time the boys rejoined me 20 minutes later, I felt like a new woman ready to conquer an evening of infant fussiness.

But wait, there's more. Apparently I'm not the only one who has a strong liking for Adele. Just a couple of days ago I was nursing George and played a video on my phone of the interview with Adele from "60 Minutes" (I missed it the first time around). When she sang "Someone Like You" by the piano during that interview, George stopped his feeding and turned his head toward my phone with ears cocked. Food was actually neglected the entire time she sang! So of course the next day when he began wailing in the car, what do I do but begin Adele's "Turning Tables" in the car, and Bazinga! Quietness! I look in the little baby mirror and what do I see but the exact same look, head and eyes turned toward the music, ears cocked and listening. And again on Saturday, absolute fits from the car seat until Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain." She is the perfect lullaby for him and he seems to quickly just slide into sleep.


So thank you, Adele. Now I like you doubly. As the longtime Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings tweeted a few months ago, "I ask every British person I meet if he was the guy who broke up with Adele. One of these day it's gonna be him and shit's gonna get real."