That's Fischer-Price, not Vincent Price

We suspect The Boy has been having nightmares lately. Over the past few weeks he has woken P and I have woken up to cries of "NO!" followed by a blood-curdling, "AAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Most of the time that's the extent of it, a single scream and then silence as he drifts back to sleep; every once in a while he wakes up sobbing.

As if those nights The Boy wakes up sobbing aren't heartbreaking enough, he also says "I'm Sorry" between sobs. Fortunately this is a case of him using the phrase at the wrong time, unlike the well documented "Oh Shit". He may be using it wrong, but it wrings my heart every time.

So what gives? P and I pretty much keep his world Nightmare-Inducing free. The machete wielding Little Tykes "Horror Movie" playset, and Play-Doh "Mould-A-Entrail" Family Fun Kit have been shelved until he's older. And we avoid watching of anything involving a life-sized puppet like Barney or Keanu Reeves.

Hopefully this is just another one of those toddler phases that will have its day and then fade into oblivion. Like when he used to happily sit at the table and eat his dinner - whew, those days are over.

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Update: It looks like tooth number 20, the last of his baby batch, is threatening to appear. Tooth 20 is a fairly recent event, it doesn't really explain the preceding weeks of night time anguish, but I'll take it; I hate mysteries.