Chicago: Hitting the Wall and Ikea

After the fun of the day (see it here and here) was over, Little B and I hit the hay. What happened next was one of the worst nights I've had in a while.

Baylor went to sleep just fine, more than fine in fact; he barely made a whimper as I laid him down in the hotel crib. I got ready, and he didn't make a peep. I climbed into bed; by then he was sound asleep, making gentle breathing sounds off in the dark of the room.

Two hours later, he started it; crying out, without waking but most certainly waking me up, every hour on the hour. It was like his little internal clock was going off or something. At 3:00 a.m. he cried for a lot longer than usual, so I got up to check on him. My nose was stuffy from all the down bedding, and the minute I stood up Paco sank into my bladder making it imperative I get to the bathroom. Still, I checked on my little man and even when I touched his head, he was sound asleep. Just moaning and crying in his sleep.

My bladder could take it no longer, so I hurried off to the bathroom to avoid making the situation even worse. After I finished washing my hands, I turned off the light and walked out into the room ... straight into the corner of the little half wall that held the minibar. Oh, with my forehead. Running on such little sleep, feeling so congested and sneezy, and having an aching noggin, I burst into quiet tears and slunk back into the bathroom. For a moment, I contemplated calling my husband back at home; then I thought better of it and got a hold of myself. Three a.m. is no time for a pity party.

I walked into the shower area of the bathroom and grabbed a towel, carefully walked back into the bedroom and covered my pillow with it, and pulled back the comforter. I threw on my long-sleeved t-shirt and socks and climbed back into bed as quietly as I could.

Several deep breaths later I was asleep, and thankfully my little man slept well until around 6:30 a.m. when he started the moaning/crying in his sleep thing again. So I got up and showered and started getting us packed up.

I don't think he actually woke up until about 8:30, and when he did he was happy as a clam. Whew! That made me feel better at least; nothing was wrong and he had slept well.

After getting everything packed, Mom, Christine, Baylor, and I headed over to the Watertower shopping center to grab a bite of breakfast at Foodlife, where we had eaten lunch the day before. The breakfast was good, the smoothie with breakfast was outstanding, and the lunch the day before was delicious! I highly recommend it if you are out shopping (or working) on Michigan Ave.

Then we went out into the cold and wind to finish up the shopping we wanted to do: Crate and Barrel and Sur La Table. Little B enjoyed every minute out in the inclement weather, but the ladies were not so thrilled and soon we were headed back to the hotel to check out and pick up the car.

Once we had the car all packed up, we drove out to Bolingbrook for our trip to Ikea. And then we headed home.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and I would happily take my son back there again. I would love for him to get to explore Millenium Park and see more of Shedd's. Oh, and we'll have to eventually do a trip to the zoo, but that'll have to wait until at least next summer, probably longer.

Either way, it was great. And, Mom, I really appreciate you taking us with you and showing us such a good time. Thank you again and again!