A 3am We Would Never Forget

It is sometimes funny how many things that seem so positive can still have a negative to them! This was the case with Julian as he began to roll over. We had waited months for this moment. We had spent hours in physical therapy and hours at home trying to teach him the simple skill of being able to roll over. The truth was we weren't sure if he would ever figure it out. I remember talking to his physical therapist and saying, "He is 8 months old. You would think he would want to move!" Her response to me was he would do it when he was ready. I didn't need to hear he would do it when he was ready. I wanted to know that everything we were putting him through was some how working. The fact that we were coming to a physical therapy appointment weekly and he hadn't had any significant changes since we brought him home was concerning to me as a mother. And if the physical therapist told the truth that day she too would have said she had some concerns as well.

So when he finally did move well I called everyone that day to tell them about Julian rolling over. Most everyone in our world knew what a legendary moment this was for him and for my husband and I. We had all worked so hard to get Julian to this point. But when I look back at it now I am sure that everyone I talked to that day probably thought I was crazy for the amount of excitement that poured out of me over one small movement. I didn't care I wanted to shout it for the world to hear.

Julian only rolled over that one time that day on his own. No matter how hard I tried to get him to show his dad his knew found trick, he wouldn't do it. I was so disappointed because if anyone in the world got how much work went into teaching an 8 month old how to roll over it was my husband. But Julian wasn't into showing off like I was so he would just lay on the floor and giggle with his dad. After many attempts of trying I finally gave up and thought Julian would just show his dad some other time.

That night after we had all gone to bed and the house was quiet. Well except for the pug snores. I was awaken by Julian's scream of death. It was the same scream he had so many times when we brought him home. It was so loud and horrifying that it even woke my husband up. I jumped out of bed and ran to him with my husband behind me. My heart was racing and I was full of fear. When I got to his side he was crying so hard he could barely breath. As I flipped on the light and looked in the crib the fear left my body and I began to giggle. Through my laughter I was trying to get Julian to calm down. I was talking softly and he finally got a hold of his emotions. Julian's screaming had begun because had rolled over again. Only this time he couldn't figure out how to get back the comfy tummy position so he thought he would ask for help with a little bit of a dramatic flare!

The problem was that when I began to giggle he thought it was time to play. So the screaming stopped but then he began to show off for us at 3 am. Soon the three of us laughed until we cried. My husband and I couldn't believe what we were doing at 3am but we also knew for Julian this was a time to remember. Only our little Julian would wake up the house to let everyone know he had rolled over again.

Over the next few nights there were lots of 3am wake up calls with the same blood curdling scream. I found my self night after night in his room teaching him how to roll over on his own. And each night I would think to myself, "How long is this going to go on? Is he going to be 12 I will be in here like it's okay you can do this." It was amazing how quickly I lost the enthusiasm and laughter of that first night of his rolling over. Instead I was wishing for a full nights sleep. So as I complained in my head I would sooth his crying and then I would put his right leg over his body like he was doing a yoga twist and he would do the rest. FINALLY by the tenth night he had it all figured out on his own and we all finally got a full nights sleep.