Well, the news from Penny's doctor was... mixed.

Her ear infection is, in fact, improving. It's nearly better, she said. There's a little fluid remaining in the ear, but that's normal. So she said to continue the course of medication she prescribed last week, and hopefully all will be well there.

She said the reason Penny was poking at her ears again was that it looked like she might be cutting her front top teeth soon. (Cutting teeth are a disturbance to the structure and nerves in the jaw, which hinges right at the ear, so often discomfort in the jaw translates to discomfort in the ears.)

And... She thinks the reason Penny is waking up so much at night is... we're wimps. Though she was much more diplomatic about it than that.

She thinks it's time (and past time) for us to teach Penny to go to sleep on her own. Time to put on the meanie hats and let her cry it out. And NOT give in and pick her up.

She sympathized with me - she, apparently, was the wimp in her household. She said that her husband had to teach their first two kids to go to sleep while she was out of town. Apparently he turned on the TV and the radio and three fans and put four pillows over his head and just didn't get much sleep for three nights, after which everything was fine.

So Matt and I need to figure out what specific approach we want to use (check in on her at increasing intervals; just shut the door and leave her to it; stay in the room with her but not pick her up... there are many options). Being the good geeks that we are, we'll probably spend some time researching various methods. And then we'll have to decide on an approach. And then - here's the hard part - stick to it.

I think one key, for me at least, is going to be to not even try to go to bed while Penny's still awake and crying. For some reason, lying in bed not-sleeping is even more tiring than sitting up all night. So I anticipate watching a lot of movies and playing a lot of Neopets in the next week or so.

And a lot of late-night whiny blog posts. Sorry, blog readers.

Anyone who wants to offer advice or suggestions, please feel free.

And now, coffee.

--Liz