Thank You

Some really considerate offerings of support were made to me after my post last night and i just wanted to say thank you and let you know that i didn't mean to sound so desperate. As a good friend said, i was "desperate for a good night's sleep" and thankfully i got a great one last night. Henry is tucked away quietly in bed and i'm hoping to turn in shortly. I started taking the antibiotics the Dr. gave me after my sinus congestion took a turn for the worse and i think they are starting to work as well.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and i hope to have more pictures and things to post on Monday.

Sleep Issues

I know my posts have had a negative note to them lately but it's not going to get any better with this one. I went back to work yesterday and didn't feel great, but at least okay to be out of bed. By 9 last night i was wiped though so i headed up to shower and get in bed.

I laid there for 2 hours and just couldn't fall asleep. Then Henry woke up and between JT and i we went in to him about 6 times in an hour. I don't know what was wrong but he just kept crying and crying. I finally fell asleep at 1 and then around 2:30 the thunder/sleet storm to end all others hit. I woke up and then Henry woke up and then the cat was annoying and after the storm died back down and Henry went to bed i think i finally fell asleep around 4 am. JT's alarm went off at 6 and i was awake from then on even though i stayed in bed awhile longer. It was an absolutely terrible night.

Tonight Henry has already been crying twice since he went to bed and i'm just praying to the sleep gods that he'll get it out of his system now. I HAVE to get better before this baby comes. I'm exhausted and really need Henry to revert to his good sleep skills.

Say a prayer for us if you can,we need sleep and wellness vibes around here.

Henry has been exploring the little room we have set up for Silas, and his new favorite thing is to play "baby" in the bouncer seat. He loves to be covered up and then to get out of the chair, get back in and be covered up again.

Sick

Thankfully Henry seems to just have a mild cold. I unfortunately, have some horrendous virus from Hell. I went to the Dr. today to rule out a sinus infection or strep and it appears just to be a really bad virus. The bad thing about that is the only thing i can do is continue to stay in bed and drink lots of liquids. I've been in bed basically since Friday afternoon and have to say i'm not feeling a whole lot better. I've taken today off from work and may have to take tomorrow off as well.

I'm not keen on using up my sick leave, but i just feel to horrible to try to make it through a work-day, even if i just kept my pajamas on!

I am feeling slightly better this afternoon-- good enough to sit up in bed and type rather than having to be completely horizontal all the time.

Henry has a runny nose and hasn't been sleeping great but he doesn't seem to feel as bad as i do and hasn't run a temperature or anything. He started being really disobedient this weekend and i'm hoping that it was a symptom of being cooped up and not the start of a new phase. There were several blocks of hours where he would do the absolute opposite of whatever you asked him. We had to draw the line at the spitting habit he seems to have acquired. It starts out as blowing spit bubbles but then he thinks it's hysterical to actually spit all that saliva out. Jt and i had both told him no uncertain terms that spitting wasn't allowed so he's suffered 2 or 3 timeouts over the issue already. I'll have to talk to Brenda to see how he fared at daycare today. I'm hoping he can hold off on this phase at least until i'm back in fighting form.

22 Months, 5 Days

I know i've been posting sporadically lately but i ask that you bear with me. Work is getting super busy as i prepare to go on leave in 4 weeks (can you believe it!) and i've been getting more and more tired as the days go by which makes it difficult to do much more than the basics come nightfall.

We wrapped up Henry's swim classes yesterday and i think he enjoyed things very much. He seems to forget about swimming when we're done with it, but hopefully he'll have a good time at the outdoor pool by our house once it warms up this summer. I'm a little glad to be done with walking out the water carrying Henry and Silas.

Henry had his appointment with the Pediatric Geneticist yesterday and was given a "normal" bill of health. They took a detailed family medical history and then did a physical exam of Henry. They felt that he was totally normal, had overcome his low muscle tone from his earlier days and that the various issues he's had (low muscle tone, pyloric stenosis and chordee) were unrelated and essentially three unlucky rolls of the dice. They said that if his development ever slowed or seemed to back-track certainly to get him back in, but there was nothing to prompt them to do more tests or look further because he appears to be totally normal. This was what we were hoping to hear!

Henry has loved to stand on the step-stool in the kitchen ever since Christmas but JT has been letting him do this more often as he works on dinner. Henry either plays with his own bowls or spoons or just watches as Dad puts dinner together. He's a bit more sure-footed on the step-stool now so you don't have to literally stand there with your arms around him the whole time.

President's Day

Henry and i enjoyed the day off and decided to make an outing of it. We had plans to hit the Art Institute with my friend Tabitha and her two girls. The museum is free through the 21st so we figured we had nothing to lose. Unfortunately Carys woke up with a fever this morning so they bowed out. I figured we were already up and motivated and we'd still go. I got Henry all bundled into the stroller and we took the El down to the museum. Thankfully it's much warmer this week (30s!) so it wasn't too bad.

The museum itself probably isn't the greatest for kids though-- at least not at this toddler stage. There are lots of stairs and in general it's a quiet place (to be expected of course) and there really isn't much geared towards young children. Henry really liked the African masks and Asian artwork that involved animals and was pretty content for about 30-45 minutes. After that he wanted to get out and walk around and have a snack-- both of which weren't really going to happen. So i called JT and we headed to Marshall Field's where we met up with him and had a nice lunch together.

I have to confess that my 35-week pregnant body also felt the impact of the day. The baby has definitely dropped so i can't walk normally (or quickly) anymore, i get tired really easy, and everything fairly aches.

Once we got home at 1:30 Henry went straight down for his nap and i laid on the couch unmoving for the better part of the 3 hours he slept.

We had a great day though and it was nice to get out but it's pretty clear that i'm really pregnant and need to take things a little easier now as we enter the homestretch. Now, i just have to get 5 days of work done in 4.

I don't have any reason to think i'll have this baby early but i'm a bit nervous at work because things are so busy i haven't really had time to work on the "transitioning" aspects of being out on leave.

21 Months, 4 Weeks, 1 Day

We decided kinda last minute to go out for an uber-romantic dinner at our local taco joint. Henry and i headed over after swimming and met JT. I can't say it was the best behaved Henry's ever been in a restaurant, but it was nice not to have to cook or clean up and Henry actually ate some dinner which was a bonus.

We got home and he found a new easel waiting for him along with a few things from mom, and a new outfit from his Great-Grandmother. He was extremely excited about the easel as you can tell by the picture. He particularly likes to "erase" the chalkboard using the wooden side of the eraser. We've shown him how to do it correctly but he prefers to make a horrendous noise that sends Mom and Dad running for cover.

Valentine's Day!

We've had an eventful day already, although nothing to do with valentine's yet. We've probably gotten about 8 inches or so of snow since two nights ago and we had therapy bright and early this morning, so we got up, got Henry some breakfast and ourselves ready and JT shovelled the walk and dug-out the car. We run a tight ship around here so we managed to actually get out the door on time.

Today was a really great therapy session for Henry. No tantrums really-- a tiny bit of fussing when we'd been doing one thing for a long time and he was genuinely having fun for parts of it. I think it really helps that his memory is developing. I try to talk about his therapist "Jo" periodically, and Henry loves to say her name as well.

Then he headed off to see Ms. Brenda and the kiddos in his valentine's day shirt. I'll try to take a picture and post it tomorrow. He's been more and more particular about what he wears. He has two winter coats-- a puffy green one and a dressy light blue wool coat. Typically he's been wearing the green coat just because it's a bit more casual. Well, Henry has decided that the only wants to wear the blue one and will go over to the coat closet and protest if i have picked out the "wrong" one. He's also pretty clear that he prefers his leather squeaky shoes to his typical tennis shoes.

That's all fine and good but i worry a bit about Brenda's sanity when he wears the shoes that squeak every time he walks for days on end. She said the kids love them so i just try to push the tennis shoes every few days or so.

Henry and i have swimming this afternoon and then he'll get to come home to some valentine goodies. We made sugar cookies the other day and decorated some of them with hearts. He enjoyed one on Valentine's day Eve, but i figure he can have another one while opening a few Valentine gifts.