Are we on the upswing yet?

Sam has reacted to being ill and all the stresses and routine changes related to Seward's death, which he very much doesn't understand, by becoming obstinate and clingy, a "Klingon" as my neighbor would say. If I leave the room he screams "Mama! Mama!" as though the world is going to end. If I disappear from sight at say, the neighbor's house, he'll scream Mama as usual but will add running around looking for me and crying. And he is constantly pleading, "Mama carry me!" even though he hasn't been interested in that for months. It's trying.

But the unreasonable pigheadedness is even more trying. I think that is at least partially due to his age but it's been noticeably worse over the past week or two. The other night we nearly had a war about bedtime because he didn't want to wear his pajamas and I insisted he needed to wear them. Not because I think pj's are necessary for sleep but because they're warmer. When he wears his clothes to bed he wakes up more often and that is NOT acceptable. After our little war, which I won with much fighting and reduced bedtime book reading, he fell right asleep. But several hours later he was started screaming in his sleep "No Mama! NOOOOO! NOOOO!" I seem to have perfected sleep torture methods.

He's had more accidents in the last several days than he had in the past several weeks and he's waking repeatedly at night. He is obviously not himself and while I feel bad for him, I'm also pounding my head in frustration and trying to not get angry because I know it will pass.

Our routines are now returning to normal and things are getting a bit better. I'm trying to be patient but it's extremely difficult. Hibernation sounds mighty attractive right about now, for all of us.