Scary Black Dog

It is uncanny how my friend Janeane's two-year-old has begun phases so many times six weeks or a couple of months before John. I'll read on Janeane's blog about something new little Emma is doing and be amazed, thinking John isn't anywhere close to doing that, but a few weeks later, he does! Recently Emma began having trouble sleeping because of feeling scared. I knew that phase could only begin because Emma was reaching new abilities to imagine. John wasn't there yet, but Monday night he had his first declared nightmare.



John has woken up scared before. I knew because his preverbal crying sounded different, but he could never tell me about it. Last night, he woke up shrieking, "That was a dog! That was a dog! That was a dog!" such that both Chris and I rushed in there. He was so scared that I almost began crying, but I put on my calm Mommy facade that I also use when John is bleeding. Some interview questions revealed that it was a "scary black dog" that said "ruff ruff!" It took John about an hour before he could fall asleep again, even with us. It was not a fun milestone for the poor little guy.