With A Rebel Yell

The baby is having nightmares...
Okay, maybe he's NOT having nightmares, but he's keeping me up at night lately. He's gotten into a habit of giving a rebel yell every couple of hours. He's not awake. I go in to check on him and he's sound asleep. Shortly after the rebel yell he starts to talk in his sleep.
So, I came to the conclusion that he was having nightmares. I was up late last night trying to figure out what these nightmares could be. I hope they don't involve his talking Elmo. I'm a fan of the Elmo doll, I think it's adorable...the baby is not amused. I keep trying. I wait until he's in a great mood and I try to reintroduce Elmo. He's not having any of it. Every time Elmo tries to tell him a story, the baby screams as if I am pulling off his fingernails one by one and he can't get out of the room fast enough. Should I move Elmo to the back of the closet, probably, but he sits out in the open in the baby's room and hopefully is not the cause of these new rebel yells.
What else could it be? I often wonder what the baby is thinking. When he talks to his toys, the dog or other kids he is so serious. He furrows his brow and babbles away and then laughs out loud. I know he'll be talking soon enough and I'll know EXACTLY what he's thinking, but I so wish there was a way to know what he was thinking now.
I wonder if he has nightmares about the vacuum. It's the only other thing he really seems to be afraid of. Honestly, it makes like difficult. The baby is crawling now and every time he sits up, he is covered in dog hair. I'd like to vacuum, but he wakes up whenever the vacuum gets to close and I wouldn't dare try to vacuum while he's awake. So, the house is dirty and I try not to let it get to me too much.
If only he was afraid of the washing machine...

A sigh of relief

I can't believe that my little boy is 9 months old! The 9 months of pregnancy go by so slowly. I remember feeling like he was never going to get here. Then suddenly there he was, filling my heart with so much joy, I blinked and now 9 months are gone. I look at him today, a crawling, babbling, precious little boy, and it's so hard to remember my smushy, snuggly baby. We've been through a lot, my little man and I. I recently read an article in Parent's magazine about having a baby just a little bit early. You would think that delivering a few weeks before your due date wouldn't be such a big deal. Your baby isn't considered premature and you are definitely ready for the pregnancy to end. But your baby needs as much time to "cook" as possible. The health issues caused by delivering just "a little bit" early are minor, not enough to keep the baby in the hospital, but to new parents trying to figure everything out and lacking sleep, minor health issues are scary and heartbreaking. But here we are, 9 months later, celebrating this happy, healthy, energetic, silly, sweet, loving and loved little boy! I think that he and I will celebrate by taking a swim this afternoon. The beautiful weather really fits my mood today. Well, the first nap of the day will be ending soon and I hear the laundry calling my name.