Crabby Abby

We have a Crabby Abby on our hands and we aren't exactly sure why. Here are the possibilities we have considered so far:

1) Teething (our current catch all, and she has a low grade fever and her gums are slightly swollen).

2) Cold (Amelia has been super stuffy the last few days with thick snot that makes it hard for her to breathe, but seems to be getting better).

3) Temper Tantrum (Yes, we have a little bit of attitude in us lately. Oh boy!)

4) Ear Infection?? (Since there aren't symptoms I always think of this. She's been to the doctor twice for this, and hasn't had it yet).

5) I want Mom/Dad with me all the time.

6) Gas (the old catch all).

So... what do we do? Well, first I gave her teething rings in her crib thinking it might help. I suppose I forgot to mention that bedtime/naptime is mostly when she is crabby. Moving forward, I attributed the horrific mucus to her needing to be semi elevated while sleeping (see pic #1). Next, we had cocktail hour: Baby Tylenol, Gas Drops and Baby Orajel. Then, Wednesday (yes, this has been happening since Sunday... but that is also when she started sneezing... hmm), I let her cry through an entire nap. That's right, like one hour plus. I did go in every 15 minutes to reposition her and and make sure she could breathe and there wasn't a real problem. Thursday: no problems???? What?! True. She napped like an angel all day Thursday. So then I'm thinking... either making her cry worked, she is too tired to argue or the teething symptoms have slowed. All of those thoughts thinking we were back to normal. Today: nope. She was gracious enough to sleep for a total of 20 minutes so that I could get a shower, for which I am quite thankful. Andrew was sweet to call me about 3o minutes ago in the middle of Amelia's crying fit and see how things were here. It went something like this:

Andrew: "Is this how your whole day has been?"
Sondra: "Pretty much."
Andrew: "I'm sorry."
Sondra: "So, let me guess. Something broke at work and you won't be home until like 6, right?" (I am turning into quite the crabby abby myself).
Andrew: "Um (which means yes). I think somebody else is taking care of it. I'll try to leave really soon."

He's really very sweet considering he knows that he is coming home to a crying baby and a crazy wife. Although, since this conversation a number of things have happened. Amelia fell asleep in her swing (hallelujah!), I've had some quiet time to myself and the evening is looking up. We're heading to Cedar Rapids early tomorrow to see a bunch of our old friends and stay the night. Hopefully our evening and weekend will be a great refresher for all 3 of us. Here are some crabby pictures:

During the times Amelia hasn't been sleeping in her crib, she HAS been trying to get out of it by attempting to stand up. This nice bruise formed two days ago:

Another thing I forgot to mention: Part of the reason I don't think we're dealing with a tantrum is that here is a picture of after she woke up out of a nap (15 minutes in) screaming. Andrew is such a great Dad! He laid on her floor with her and they both caught a little rest.

We switch date nights every other week with Scott and Laura. When Amelia woke up after a terrible afternoon Wednesday she cheered up when she saw Leah!