TMI Tuesday: A Lot Of Changes

Another month has passed and once again it feels as though we have been cheated… time is moving so quickly that it is hard to believe that the seasons will soon be changing and our son will be reaching new milestones. With September now upon us, the temperature is getting a little cooler and the Stars Hollow like festivals are popping up all around. It is my favorite time of year made even better by the fact that I can now share the autumn with our baby boy.

The past month has brought a plethora of changes to our little family… actually it has been more of a change in routine than anything. While he has yet to talk, his expressions are becoming even more animated especially when we take him out exploring, drop him off at daycare, and pick him up at the end of the day. He is still a happy baby who likes to be out but also looks forward to spending time with his mommy and daddy at the end of the day.

While the croup from a couple of weeks ago proved to be a slight hiccup (cough actually), he has handled it about as well as we could have ever hoped for. There were some long nights but you could tell that he wasn’t happy about being awake either. All the while, the change in the weather (and trying to adjust the temperature, has also been a bit of an inconvenience but one that he has handled well. Unfortunately, while he is doing his best to sleep and rest for the next day, lately he has also become quite the light sleeper like his mommy. This is a whole different batch of issues especially since I am usually the last one up and working downstairs.

It is actually pretty interesting watching him try to get to sleep sometimes as he now likes falling asleep on his side. He has yet to roll over but that too is not far away. One thing he has mastered is sitting up. Whether on the couch, in bed, or on the floor he has been able to sit on his own for more than 30 minutes at a time. This includes catching himself when he begins to tip over and balancing himself when he reaches for some of the thing around him. With the exception of when he is tired, he now prefers sitting and standing. It shouldn’t be long before the chasing begins.

And hopefully we will have a new place where we will be chasing him. Maybe not right away but we are trying hard to find the right place for all of us. Some have looked good at the beginning while other require some imagination. In the end, we will be in a place that works for the three of us, a place that we can call home for many years to come. This is a process that has occupied much of the last month and one that our son has tolerated… after all, they have been new places for him to explore.

A lot of changes have happened over the last month but there are even more that we are expecting by the end of the year. He is growing so fast and we are just trying to keep up at this point. Hopefully, the whirlwind will subside soon so that we can enjoy the changes as they float by on the light breeze.

TMI Tuesday: Welcome to 3AM

While the song has no relation to the situation except for the coincidence of time, I couldn’t help by despise Matchbox Twenty this weekend as our son insisted on waking up each night at 3AM. It was a collusion of events last week that caused the constant sleeplessness with his new daycare routine, needing more mommy and daddy time, and the lingering congestion from croup. It was not a fun experience but one that we have been expecting to happen (we actually thought this would be a more regular occurrence during this first year).

Of course, this wasn’t the usual stirring in the middle of the night that can be remedied by putting his binkie back in and rubbing his head, this was the “you better not leave me until I am dead to the world asleep” kind of wakeup. Each time he was aroused from slumber, the screaming was almost immediate… it seemed to be a combination of tiredness, frustration, fear, and loneliness. It is a heartbreaking sound to hear echoing through the monitor. However, while I clearly heard each instance, to be honest, it was my wife that was the one that got out of bed to comfort our son while I did my best to keep my eyes open (many times I was unsuccessful).

And this was only the beginning of the fun each day as when the alarm rang out in the morning, it came all too soon and left us all with headaches that persisted throughout the day. Each of us trudged through our days with a set of matching family luggage strapped to our eyes. At this point, I was really hating Cat Stevens as well (or whatever his name is now).

It has been a bit of a testing time for all of us but, as of last night, things seem to be getting a little better as there was no heart wrenching screams to be heard and the remedy for waking up a little earlier than our liking was back to binkie and a quick head rub. The morning was also a bit more pleasant as we were all able to sleep better than we had in weeks. But the best part about our son feeling better (besides not being woken up at 3AM) was the fact that when I got home from work today his smile and laugh had returned which made me forget, at least briefly, about the recent nights.  

TMI Tuesday: What Rhymes With Poop?

Well, the poop hit the fan last weekend! As last week came to an end, we were all tired. It was a long week at the office for me, my wife returned to work after doggedly pursuing the last document she needed from a former employer, and our son had his first experience at daycare (he spent three days there). We were all ready for a quiet weekend spent at home taking a break from the chaotic days that seem to have dominated these days off during the summer. Well, that was the plan…

We had noticed that our son wasn’t feeling well later in the week and my wife had taken him to the pediatrician on Friday to get checked out. We followed the directions they gave us and we put him to bed with a little Tylenol (per the instructions we were given), a cold air humidifier in the corner, and the head of his bed slightly elevated. A few hours later, with my wife and son now both asleep, I was at my computer sorting through my neglected emails when I could hear what sounded like a wounded cow near the top of the stairs. When I turned the corner to walk toward the bedroom there was my wife holding our moaning child. Something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t long before we were all in the car on our way to the emergency room. Thankfully, it was a slow night and I was able to hold my son in the hospital bed shortly after our arrival. In the end it wasn’t just a cold as the pediatrician told us earlier, he had Croup. Almost immediately after he was given the right medicine the groans stopped and we could both tell that he was beginning to feel better. An hour after we arrived we were back in the car and on our way home. We were all exhausted and soon after our return assumed our positions from before this whole ordeal began.

Obviously we all slept in on Saturday as we resumed our plans and took it easy allowing our son sleep as much as he needed and my wife and I trying to relax, order dinner, and spend some time together. Well, dinner was a mistake. By Sunday morning our son was returning to his normal happy self while my wife and I were struggling to do just about anything. After my wife reluctantly cancelled her plans for the day, we knew that this wasn’t going to get better without some help so we both headed over to the local Urgent Care once my mom arrived to watch our recuperating baby.

Fortunately, the doctors knew exactly how to treat food poisoning and so after some medicine and two IV bags, we returned to the house feeling a lot better than when we left. While we were both nowhere near ‘better’ we both felt good enough to return to work the following morning and our son, no longer contagious, returned to daycare. It was a long weekend after a long week and I hope we never have to go through that again!