He's got to be teething. If this isn't teething, then I don't want to know what is...

Usually he goes to bed pretty easily. I rock him to sleep and put him in his crib, and then he may wake up during the transfer, but he gets himself back to sleep in a couple minutes.

These last couple nights, he'll be fast asleep on me, and then he'll wake up when I put him down and just scream. Not much that I can do makes it better. I'm not really conditioned for this because I have an otherwise easy baby, so last night I had to just put him down and try to utilize the "cry it out" method.

I always used to think I would use that as a general rule, but then once Liam came along I did some reading and came to believe that if they're crying, especially during these first few months, they're doing it because they need something and not to manipulate. I decided to pick him up and comfort him and never leave him crying.

I know there are benefits to both methods, so I don't claim to know what's right. I do know that this has been what has felt right with my baby.

I've seen the payoff, too. He's really come to trust the two of us. Whenever he's in a situation that he's unsure about and gets this look on his face like he's about to get upset, we look at him and reassure him, and he immediately calms down. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face as the pastor started pouring the water on his head during his Baptism. It was like sheer terror. I smiled at him and said it would be ok, and I could see him relax all over.

On the flip side - I know that at some point we're going to have to wean him away from this and start letting him cry it out. I just don't know when or how. I don't want to confuse the trust that we have established and then give him a complex like "well I THOUGHT that they were there for me when I needed them, but apparently not" and then make it worse than if we had always let him cry. There will come a day when he will learn that he can use crying to manipulate, so I suppose we need to start nipping it in the bud right at that transition where he knows he can trust us but starts to learn the concept of cause and effect.

It's tricky business.

For now, I really think he is teething, and he has been in pain the past couple nights. After last night's long crying episode and my frustration (in the next room of course), I felt really, really bad and felt that my gut instinct is that that's the wrong way for me and my baby. Tonight I forced myself to be more patient and just hold him through it, and that's when I realized that he's just flat out in pain. That's not a fussy cry, that's a "I'm hurting" cry. If all I can do is hold him while he cries, so be it. And God, please help me through it.

I speak mainly for myself because Andy doesn't vary too drastically on this (and he's really not with him at night when it's most prevalent). I also try to stay out and not say too much. I give him his autonomy as Dad, and only if I really, really disagree with something for some reason will I say something. He's a great Daddy, and there's not much to say.

I suppose my main philosophy is just above all else, love that baby like it's going out of style, let him know we're there for him no matter what, and most of the other stuff will fall into place.