Catching Up

Whew! Holidays are always crazy-busy, but holidays with a baby. . . it feels as if I am finally able to catch my breath after a whirlwind week and a half.

Christmas was wonderful. We were at my in-laws this year. My poor MIL thought she would never have grand kids, so to say that she was excited about having Will for his first Christmas would be a huge understatement. She was like a little kid herself, having him open his presents about fifteen minutes after we arrived. He, of course, wasn't exactly that sure what to do with opening, even when Daddy tried to help him. I think he thought the paper was his gift. As with most of his things, it immediately went into the mouth.

In addition to the paper, he also got a lot of really nice toys. I don't even know where to put them all! M and I didn't do so badly ourselves. We got a new GPS device for our car and a web cam so that we can help Will stay in touch with his Grandma. It was also a White Christmas, which has only happened once before in my lifetime! I made sure to get a picture of Will with the snow behind him, since this might be the only one that he sees for awhile!


Despite the glow of the holidays, I have been feeling a little ill at ease lately. I posted a few weeks back that we are in the middle of some life-changing decisions. We still haven't fully made the biggest decision, but it is pretty much crunch time and I am waffling back and forth. My husband seems more settled in the decision that we've made, but I am just not sure. I guess only time will tell if we are making a huge mistake or the best move of our lives. Oh, and yes, I will be sure to share what this big decision is just as soon as it's finalized, which should be any day now. . . if I can just keep my mind made up. We really just do need to make this decision and stay with it, because I am really making myself sick over the whole thing.

In addition to my indecisiveness, Will has been back to his night wakings. He was doing so well for so long, but his cold seems to have taken us off track. He is still doing great with naps, so it's not as bad as it was, but he is up at least once a night now, if not more. My mother thought that perhaps it was hunger and that it was time for solids, so we decided to ask the doctor at his four month well baby exam on Tuesday. He weighed in at 16 lbs and is 26 inches long! What a chunky little monkey! Nice and healthy! I asked the doctor about starting solids and she gave us the go ahead. We waited until yesterday morning so that M could be home to witness the big show. He was a natural at it, opening his mouth with glee for the rice cereal. A lot of it did end up back on his bib, but it was a good first attempt.

I also asked the doctor about the night waking. She reminded me that he is still awfully young for sleeping through the night (no matter how many other babies are doing it) and that there are growth phases, congestion from the cold, etc., that can play a role in how well a baby sleeps through. She did recommend trying to soothe him instead of feeding him at night when he wakes. I had been trying that, but had kind of given up in the past week with the holiday travel and not wanting to wake our hostesses up in the middle of the night.

On Wednesday, Will woke up at 3 AM, so I went into his room with the intention of getting back on track. I bent over his crib to pat his tummy and shush in his ear, which usually works for soothing him back to sleep. Well, it was dark in the room, and his hand came up as my face came down and his little finger went right into my eye! Ouch! I figured that it was no big deal, even though tears were streaming from my eye. I gave up trying to soothe (it wasn't working, anyway), and fed him and then went back to sleep myself, hoping that the burning pain in my eye would work its way out with some shut eye.

In the morning, it was still all red and teary and my vision was blurred. I called my eye doctor and was able to be squeezed in for an exam. Turns out that Will took a horse shoe shaped chunk out of my cornea and I had to have antibiotic eye drops and some goop put in my eye to help it heal. What a way to ring in the New Year! Will was great at the eye doctor, though, because we got there right at his nap time and then had to wait for a long time, and he didn't even fuss. Thank goodness for small favors!

So, that about catches us up for the past week. I hope you all had wonderful holidays and I can't wait to read all about them! Even with the craziness of trying to make big decisions and dealing with a scratched eye, this Christmas was truly one of our best ever. . . and all because we already have the best gift in the world.