My dad was in town visiting and we were staying at a friend's cabin on Lake Wenatchee for one night during a quick trip to the east side of the mountains. My dad dropped us off at the cabin at 7pm so I could put Hayden to bed while he drove the 45 minutes back to Wenatchee to do some things at his house. No problem right? Wrong! I was in the process of putting Hayden to bed when my dad came back in and said that the alarm was sounding outside the house. I didn't know how/where to turn the alarm off, so I had to call the owner and ask. This turned into a drawn out 15 minute conversation for me, while my dad and Hayden played in the living room. Hayden was getting a little hyped up. So, when I took him back down to restart reading the books, he was having nothing of it. He didn't like the room, didn't want to read the books, just wanted to get off my lap ASAP and run around. UGH. So, I let him down and tried to read on the couch, the other beds, etc. Nothing worked. So, I just said goodnight, put him in the pak-n-play and left the room. He totally freaked out. Instantly crying and sounding like he was going to vomit. It was nuts. So, I went in and got him and tried to get him to relax. He was all hyper running around and playing. That lasted from 7:45-8:45. At around 8:45 he started getting SO tired and began crying. To make a LONG story short, he screamed, and cried, and threw fits, and hit me, and just stayed generally pissed off for the next two hours. He went back and forth between screaming, "NIGHT NIGHT!!!" and "HOME!" and "UP AND DOWN! UP AND DOWN!" (which is what he says when you are holding him and he wants to get down...probably a by-product of him getting the words reversed and me correcting him...it's his way of covering all the bases). He didn't want me to lay down and you could tell he felt so out of control and didn't really know what to do. He was SO overtired that he just couldn't settle down anymore. I couldn't get a hold of my dad and Cameron was 2 hours away here at home. Finally, I talked to my dad as he was leaving Wenatchee at 10:45 or so. I told him that Hayden was completely beside himself and that I wanted to go home. I am sure that was the LAST thing he wanted to hear after just driving 2 1/2 hours to get to Wenatchee that morning, then a back and forth trip to the cabin 45 minutes each way and then another long nearly 2 hour ride home...at MIDNIGHT no less! But, there was no way I could handle any more of that screaming and there was no sign of him settling down anytime soon.

Ironically, Hayden fell asleep on my shoulder about 5 minutes before my dad made it back to the cabin. We packed up the car, but as soon as I set him in the carseat, he woke up...screaming bloody murder...again. He truly sounded possessed. It was very intense and I was so exhausted by this point. Finally, after getting the car packed, we left. It took him about 10 minutes, but he settled down and fell asleep and slept all the way home. Until we pulled into the driveway, that is. We got home at 1:30am and he woke up screaming...again...as soon as the car stopped. I quickly carried him upstairs and he cried for a few minutes in his crib but then fell asleep.....only to wake up less than 5 hours later at 6:15 that morning.

He was a complete turd the rest of the next day since he had half the sleep he usually does on a typical night. I have never seen anything like that. He was crazed!

I hope that never happens again. I do have to say though, I was proud of myself that I didn't ever lose my cool. I never raised my voice (because obviously that wasn't going to help him feel more comfortable and calm him down) and I just tried to comfort him. I did feel so helpless though because nothing I tried to do helped him. Poor little guy.

My explanation of what happened is only a guess. In the beginning, I think he was just a little scared by the new place. As he gets a little older, his imagination is getting more vivid. I have noticed that he has become a little afraid of the dark and a little leary of loud noises and other things that he wasn't afraid of before. He is at the age when he can have bad dreams and remember things that aren't there. He remembered home and wanted to be there and knew that he was somewhere foreign. Being freaked out turned into being overtired quite quickly. When children become overly tired it is very hard for them to settle and fall asleep. I think everything just compounded on itself and made for a really bad situation. Hayden has slept in other places in the past, but we haven't done that in at least 6 months, so he has obviously had some leaps in brain development that made being away from home for bedtime a lot harder.

But, we did survive. Thanks Dad for taking care of us and getting us home safely even when I know you were exhausted! Thank god for the rumble strips on the road shoulder. -- mam