Getting Samantha to sleep tonight has been a Herculean battle, and I'm not at all certain it's over yet. She's been fussy and irritable most of the day, calm only when someone's been holding her. She's definitely teething -- chewing vigorously on almost anything she can get into her mouth -- but I don't know if this has anything to do with her irritability today or not.

After a long bout of crying she finally went to sleep around 9pm, but she's woken up twice since then crying at the top of her lungs both times. The first time I gave her some water and she had a dose of infant strength Tylenol, which some of our books suggested in case her gums are bothering her. After 20 or 30 minutes rocking her she finally fell asleep again. It didn't last long, though. She woke up again at around 11 and we had another 30 minutes of crying and rocking her before she went back to sleep against my chest. I've just put her down in the crib again and I'm hoping for the best, but not really expecting to get much sleep myself tonight.

Amy's so tired she completely slept through the second round of crying, despite the fact that the baby monitor is right next to her in our bedroom. I have a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning for a long-overdue physical. God only knows what kind of shape I'm going to appear to be in after a sleepless night with a crying baby. I'll bet that simply does wonders for one's blood pressure.

Well, she's quiescent for the moment at least and I can pause to regroup and gather my strength and my patience.

On another note, I just found out that some very dear friends are expecting twins. I'm overjoyed for them, but I also feel for them. After a night like tonight with Samantha, I just can't imagine trying to do this with two babies at once. It's all I can do to keep up with the one we have.