Christmas Recovery

Well, we made it! Christmas has come and gone, and we're all still here, in relatively good shape. I say relatively because William caught a pretty wicked cold, which I think he has now shared with me. He started wheezing again on Friday, so I nebulized him Friday and Saturday, and by Saturday evening, the wheezing was gone, but his nose got good and goopy and he has a pretty productive cough. His nose is still super goopy, but otherwise, he's doing pretty well. (Besides having an intense case of clingyness. I could hardly be three steps away from him throughout this holiday without him pitching a fit.) He's back on the Singulair, now, since that seemed to really make a difference before. He'll stay on it until at least May.

So now that we got that out of the way (I keep track of all William's illnesses with this blog!), I can report on Christmas. William had three days packed full of family and festivities and getting thrown off-schedule, but he was quite the trooper. On Christmas Eve, we went to Ed's aunt and uncle's house for their traditional party, and William enjoyed going up and down the various steps in the house. Their living room and family room are one step down, and then the sun room is another step down. They also have a back staircase and a front staircase. So after he practiced going up and down the one-step levels without holding onto anything, he worked on climbing up one staircase, and then climbing down the other. Needless to say, I got quite a workout myself.

We didn't leave the party until 9:30, so William was completely off schedule that night, and combined with his cold and general clingyness, he had a pretty bad night, which means I got hardly any sleep at all, which means that by the time Christmas morning rolled around, and the daunting task of doing the final preparations for entertaining 21 people at our house finally hit me, I was a bit of a basket case. I won't go into it, but suffice it to say there was crying going on, and it wasn't all William! Despite this little, tiny setback, though, it was wonderful to see William play with the toys that Santa left for him. The first thing he saw was wooden train set--a figure eight with a four-car train. He could have played with it all morning, but we finally convinced him to also check out the shopping cart and pretend food that Santa gave him. This was a big hit, too, and after opening a few more wrapped gifts, he was clearly done with presents and just wanted to play. He got tired around mid-morning, but rallied when his cousins came over and gave him a Hess truck with two motorcycles in the back. They also got him a ride-on truck, and both gifts were huge hits. After his cousins left, he napped until Ed's whole family came over in the late-afternoon. He spent the evening alternating between clinging to me, and playing with toys and showing off for everyone. We finally got him down for the night at 8:30. I was exhausted, but Ed and I started watching Transformers and as stupid as the movie is, I had to watch the whole thing. So needless to say, I'm beat!

We really had a great Christmas, though, and were spoiled by all the gifts we received. Today was rainy and gross outside, so this afternoon, we headed over to Barnes and Noble to put a dent in a gift card we received. William had a great time playing with the train table and Ed and I took turns browsing the store and picking out books. It was the first time in three days that I had more than 20 minutes to myself, without being clung to or dragged around by William. Ahhhh--sweetness. I know it's a phase, and I do try to treasure his neediness while it lasts, but good Lord--talk about testing someone's patience! At any rate, hopefully, our somewhat normal schedule today helped settle him down a bit. I go back to work tomorrow, and we'll see whether or not he'll go to daycare. He might end up staying home with Ed. Is it terrible to admit I'm almost looking forward to the "me" time I'll get at work tomorrow?

Unfortunately, I was too overwhelmed with the business of entertaining to take pictures yesterday. We got video of William in the morning playing with his Santa toys, but that's about it. Today, however, I got some good pictures of William playing with this all-time classic toy--an empty box.


So that's our Christmas recap. I'm kind of looking forward to the new year. I'm feeling the urge to buckle down and get organized. And of course, looking forward to bringing baby #2 into the world. I'm also aiming to get more into the routine of blogging again. We'll see if I can follow through! Hope every had a wonderful holiday, too, and that you all feel as blessed as I do!

Much Too Busy to Post

Things are going well, but I'm just too busy for a proper post. Ed has had a lot of holiday parties for work, plus some errand-running after work, which means I've been doing evenings solo quite a bit. It always makes me appreciate him when we're together. Although he might argue that I don't seem appreciative. But I am! At any rate, I'm picking up holiday cards tonight (finally!) and mailing them tomorrow. I've been emailing pictures to Ed's sister for their grandfather's birthday gift--a digital picture frame. Which is also, incidentally, what we're getting Ed's parents for Christmas. I ordered stamps with William and his cousins' picture on them for Ed's mom and grandfather's birthday. (Ed's mom's birthday is Dec. 24 and his grandfather is Dec. 26.) And now I've got to focus all of my attention on last-minute gift buying (stocking stuffers and odds and ends), and the fact that we're hosting Christmas dinner at our house for 23 people.

Yes--that's right--23 people. I wasn't feeling stressed about until I mentioned it on my mom's message board and everyone seems to be freaking out for me. When I started thinking about it, I started realizing that yes, 23 people in my house, for dinner, is quite an undertaking. Still, I'm determined not to stress about it. Or rather, to stress as little as possible. Ed's grandparents are bringing a ham. His aunt and sister will bring appetizers. My cousin will bring chairs and a salad. Ed's parents and cousin will bring dessert. Ed's aunt and uncle will bring leftovers from their Christmas Eve holiday spread. And I'll provide biscuits for the ham, baked ziti, garlic rolls, and salad. I might or might not make a holiday dessert that my mom always made. No problem, right? It will be crowded and chaotic, no doubt, but it will all work out.

Am I absolutely insane? Wait . . . don't answer that. At any rate, there are definitely things that I wanted to do that won't be getting done now. Like making Christmas cookies, for one thing. And there was a craft project I wanted to attempt that won't get done. And there were a few people I had wanted to get gifts for, but that won't happen now, either. But that's all okay. No one will really be the worse for wear--least of all me! I just need to stay really focused for the next couple of nights and this weekend, and then ENJOY Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our family. So that's my plan. Wish me luck!

Guess What We Did Today?

Yes--we braved the dreaded mall to get a picture of William with Santa. It was soooo worth it, though. I thought for sure that William would cry the minute we handed him off to Santa. But he was way too interested in the Barney and Elmo dolls that the photographer used to elicit smiles from the kids. They worked! The best part is this is the same Santa that William posed with last year. He's worked this specific mall for something like 17 years. So for comparison, here's last year's picture:


This year's picture is dark because it's actually a picture of a picture. We opted to not pay for the CD picture, and I can't get my scanner to work. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out.

And William even enjoyed the mall and all the people and decorations. He was so engrossed with everything that he didn't protest being in the stroller. Of course, Ed and I didn't ramble. We headed straight for our destination, got the picture taken, and then headed straight back the way we came. We did decide to eat at TGI Friday's before we left, though, but William was great there, too. So the whole afternoon was a success!

Speaking of successes--the cake balls were delicious. And the ones dipped in the semi-sweet chocolate chips with shortening set just fine, with no melting. Still think I'll try paraffin wax for the next ones, though.

Cake Balls

I'm in a giddy mood, so my title just sounds funny to me. Makes me giggle. ANYWAY . . .

I made cake balls tonight! (Giggle, giggle) For those of you who don't know what they are, the basic recipe is to bake one cake, any flavor (the box kind), let it cool a bit, then crumble it into a bowl and mix with one can of frosting, any flavor. Form this mixture into bite-size balls, dip in chocolate coating (or white chocolate), and voila! Cake Balls! (I actually formed the balls and then put them in a ziplock in the freezer and let them come to room temp. before dipping them.)

I've been wanting to try these for a while, but I was a little intimidated by the chocolate coating part. Some people use almond bark or confectioners chocolate. Others use chocolate chips mixed with shortening or paraffin wax. Some people dip the balls with a spoon. Others use toothpicks.

I found chocolate and vanilla almond bark at Walmart and tried the chocolate with the ones I made tonight. It didn't really work out very well, so halfway through, I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2 tbsp. shortening, and that worked a lot better. The almond bark was too thick and it wasn't coating the cake balls very well. However, it did harden nicely at room temperature, whereas the chocolate-chip coating didn't "set" very well. I put those in the refrigerator, but I'm not sure how they'll travel tomorrow. I'm afraid they'll melt and get all stuck together in transit. Oh well. It was my first attempt so we'll see what happens. For the cake balls, I used a devil's food chocolate cake mixed with chocolate icing. And I topped half of the dipped cake balls with colored sprinkles, and the other half with crushed candy canes. I also have a spice cake mix that I plan to mix with cream cheese frosting, and dip in the vanilla almond bark. I need to come up with some way to thin out the almond bark, though.

So that's why I'm too tired for a decent post tonight. Not much new to talk about in William's world. He's been really into the Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever. He mostly likes the pages with the construction trucks, regular trucks, fire trucks, and trains, but he also likes the page in the kitchen. And if I point things out, he'll sit through almost all the pages. Santa Claus definitely needs to bring him Cars and Trucks and Things that Go.

In my world, I'm 20 weeks pregnant today! Halfway there--woo-hoo! We had the sonogram yesterday and everything looks good. Maybe I'll have Ed take a 20-week shot of my belly. They estimated that the baby weighs 13 ounces now. They said that's a "good size" for this age, so I think I need to look that up. Maybe it's time to stop noshing on so many sweets! So anyway, that's all for tonight. I've been working on a William-to-English dictionary for one of my future posts, so stay tuned!

William's Really Big Day

Today was an exciting day for William. We went for a train ride on the local commuter train and got to see Santa Claus, and then tonight after dinner, the local fire station gave Santa and Mrs. Claus a ride around our neighborhood on their shiny red fire truck. Santa Claus, mind you, was incidental to the real thrill, which was riding on a train and hearing the whistle and seeing a fire truck with the lights flashing and hearing the siren and the horn honk. For the rest of the night, right up until I turned off his light and put him in his crib, William babbled incessantly about fire trucks and choo-choos. What a day! I wonder if he'll remember tomorrow?

Either the train ride and fire truck excitement completely wore him out, or he's getting sick, or having a growth spurt, but he took a three-hour nap this afternoon and was asleep tonight by 7:30 p.m. It's probably some combination of the three, but I'll take it. He did wake up at 5:30 this morning, so I imagine he was pretty wiped out by the time we got home from the train ride. I'm thinking he might be getting sick, though, because his eye is starting to look a little red and goopy, and his nose is runny. Not to mention the fact that he was super-clingy all afternoon and evening. We might be staying home on Monday if his eye seems to get worse, and it's only one eye. Still, I managed to get a lot done today, and for that I'm grateful. Tomorrow I get to spend the afternoon shopping with my girlfriend, so I'm grateful for that, too! This is definitely shaping up to be a fantastic holiday season. I'm sure as Christmas approaches, I will start feeling the stress, but so far, so good. And to top things off, on Tuesday, I"ll be 20 weeks pregnant--halfway there! Woo-hoo! Life is definitely good right now.

Dare I Say It OUT LOUD?

I'm a little hesitant to say this OUT LOUD, but we have had quite a breakthrough this week with the separation anxiety. William has cried when I leave him at daycare almost every single day for, hmmm, about 10 months now. But this week, he has not cried once. NOT ONCE!!! He gives me a kiss and a hug and then says "Bye" and goes off to play with his friends or toys or to dance, or to do whatever it is that 18-month-old kids do in daycare. I had resigned myself to this day never coming. I was pretty sure that I had somehow created an insecure, clingy mama's boy. And I've read the child development studies that say that children who have a very strong attachment to one or both of their parents are in the long run more secure and confident. But it's hard to believe that when your child freaks out every time you leave him at daycare. So this week has been very gratifying.

I know this does not mean that we won't have days when he won't want me to leave. That there won't be days when I end up spending 10 or 20 extra minutes in the room with him, helping him to get acclimated. And he still protests when I leave him with Daddy while I take a shower. (Something about me getting into that bathtub and closing the curtain with the water running just freaks him out! I have to close the bathroom door entirely and leave him on the other side.) But I think we've definitely gotten through this phase--at least for this week! Who knows what next week will bring?

Random Thoughts

I'm going to keep my blogger window open today and just post random thoughts as I think them. Starting with,

• I forgot to put on my rings today. I don't usually take them off, but I don't like wearing them when I put on lotion. And I finally bought the Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion (except I got the kind that says for stretch marks, instead of the original, and I really don't like the way it smells, and it's not as rich as the original kind, although it says it has added ingredients specifically for stretch marks, but I'm not buying it, so it's back to the original for me), which I used during my last pregnancy and managed to not get any stretch marks, so even though I know it's more hereditary than anything, I don't want to push my luck and thought I'd better maintain the same routine. So anyway, when I put on lotion, I take my rings off. But this morning I forgot to put them back on, so now I feel naked.

• William doesn't eat many things that require a spoon. At daycare, I know he eats cereal with milk, but I can't get him to eat that at home. He doesn't really like one-pot meals, either, like stew or rice dishes. I'm thinking of this because I was thinking about making shepherd's pie for dinner with ground beef, but it's not something that William will eat. At least not yet. Maybe I just need to keep putting dishes like these in front of him. He eats that stuff at daycare.

• I'm really annoyed with my boss right now. He starts new projects and then they inevitably change course halfway through, but he neglects to tell anyone that we're changing directions or that it's no longer a priority, or that we just want to focus on one specific part. Overall, he's a really good boss--not demanding, not a micro-manager, not confrontational (which can be a bad thing, but not when you don't want to be confronted!)--so I shouldn't complain. But out of nowhere he'll just come up with some idea that we never talked about before, and he looks at me like I have two heads because I'm not on the same page as him. Ugh.
  

• Sometimes I think I'm eating really well, but then I'll come home and eat 4 chocolate chip cookies (okay--5!) and pick off of William's chicken nugget leftovers and then eat my own dinner and have a chocolate donut for dessert, and then I think, hmmmm, I might want to watch out for gestational diabetes. Better luck tomorrow, huh

• I really love The Biggest Loser. I have never been able to truly change my lifestyle, so I really admire those people who succeed.

• Rachel Ray sucks. Not only is she annoying, but has anyone ever actually succeeded in making her 30-minute meals in 30 minutes? It only works if everything is totally prepped ahead of time, and if you are an expert chopper. I'd like to take a knife skills class at Sur La Table.

• I have the cutest boy in the whole entire world. Seriously--I'm in love with my kid. What more can I say?
  

So there you have it--random thoughts for a day.

"It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!"

I know--such a cheesy title, but I couldn't help it. We had the best weekend and it put me in such a great mood. Tired--but great. We had a play date with William's two best buddies, we made sugar cookies, got the Christmas tree, got the Christmas decorations out and decorated, and spent lots of quality family time together. So far, my plan of a stress-free Christmas, to be enjoyed and celebrated, is going swimmingly!

William hasn't been eating a whole lot lately, but I'm attributing it to his teething, and just trying to make sure he has some balance of protein, whole carbs, calcium, vitamins C, D, and A, and iron.In William's world, it seems he's learning new words and phrases every day. His bottom two canines have cut through, and his top ones or working their way in. He's been a fruit fiend of late--especially grapefruit and tangerines. Today I bought a box of clementines at the grocery store and he ate two for his afternoon snack. He also loves blueberries, bananas, grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, and strawberries. I think it's pretty obvious that he has a pretty strong sweet tooth. He'll hardly touch milk in a sippy unless it's chocolate, he only drinks water if he has to (preferring juice), and he'd be perfectly happy eating fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He I'm sure he'll get what he needs as long as I offer him the right choices.

So, without further ado, it's picture and video time! First, the tree
With the flash:


Without the flash, so you can see the lights (it's blurry, but much prettier this way):


And next, the mantel:


And now, the piece de la resistance:

And finally, some video. William helped me roll out the cookie dough and cut out shapes. Well, more like, he insisted on doing it himself, so I gave him some scrap dough and let him have at it. He was so entertained! He discovered that he could eat the cookie dough and enjoyed it quite a bit.



And just for good measure, I came across this video of William exactly one year ago today. Quite a contrast, huh?



So that's our news. It's nice to have energy again. I think I'm finally in the second trimester, feeling-pretty-good phase. Our 20-week sonogram is on Dec. 10, but I'm pretty sure we're going to opt not to find out the sex of the baby. I have been feeling him or her move, though! It's just been the last few days, but it's still pretty exciting. Maybe I'll post belly pics in my next entry. So stay tuned!