What do you get when you combine New Year's Eve with Mommy working a
twelve-hour shift and doing that pregnancy thing?
A quick toast to the New Year and an even quicker trip up the stairs!
This is actually the first time since we've been married that we didn't
stick it out to see the ball (Times Square) and the acorn (downtown
Raleigh) drop to ring in the New Year.
But that bed was awfully comfortable and inviting and ZZZZZZZZ...... ;)
Our third Christmas celebration crew came to visit us from Fayetteville
and Nicholas got another opportunity to be spoiled rotten. You know,
I think various grandparents are taking a bit of a perverse pride in
spoiling our little one rotten (but don't worry, we forgive you! :)
Unfortunately, one must have the bitter along with the sweet and Nicholas
not only was contending with his continual teething (we've been so over
that for so long but the poor kid just can't catch a break) but then he
decided that he wanted to add an ear infection to go along with his
usual monthly Synagis shots (very expensive shots that helps little ones
fight off colds...particularly important for preemies for the first two
years).
In other words, the boy felt like the fourth day of a three day pass.
But you know, when there were presents to be opened...he made a pretty
speedy recovery once he decided to get past the I'm going to play
shy and hide behind the chair thing. After a while, he got into
playing with new toys. He particularly liked the set of old-fashioned
wooden letter blocks in the case. Let's play pick up a big
box of blocks! And I think it's safe to say that he found his new
blanket made by Aunt Meghann to be a winner.
All things considered, he did pretty good until dinner when the lack of
sleep, feeling generally less-than-stellar, and a bit of sensory overload
conspired against him staying awake. The best way I can describe what
happened next is to compare it to seeing a train wreck that is inevitable.
It's irresistable because you know it's going to happen and it's not
going to be pretty.
The last pictures tell the story better than I could. He struggled
mightily to stay awake but it was only a matter of time before Morpheus
would claim Nicholas as his own. The funny part was that he held onto
that Dorito with a death grip you just wouldn't believe. When it came
time to rouse him enough to get him upstairs, he remembered exactly
where the Dorito was and started eating it. And no one was going to
deprive him of eating that last Dorito, let me tell you.
I don't think it'll be much of a stretch of the imagination to know
that once he got over being ticked off because we had to put him in his
pajamas that he was asleep again before his head hit the pillow. If
only it were that easy all of the time...
We had a bit of a surprise with the first snowfall at our new house. A
big low pressure system blew up just off the coast of Florida and we
got a good two inches or so of snow on the ground. The new driveway
is a whole lot easier to shovel off than the old gravel one was (the
trick is to work your way up especially if there is ice present).
But that snow didn't stop us from having a certain little one ogling a
flamingo (!) that found it's way to our doorstep. Nicholas got a taste
of sledding down the driveway with a couple of makeshift sleds. The
first one (a Rubbermaid container lid) didn't work so well but the
broken-down cardboard box certainly did! (We've since invested in a
real Flexible Flyer...it's not quite the green tobaggan Bam-Bam used to
mow down unsuspecting kids on the one hill in all of Kansas but it'll
do to get him from top to bottom quickly). Little one had fun playing
in the snow and between the playing and the shoveling, it was pretty
tiring.
But I think it's safe to say Nicholas likes playing in the snow! :)
One year. Two houses. Two moves. An incredibly energetic son whose
energy rivals some of the hurricanes that came through this year.
Another son who will be here before we know it. And we finally made it
to Christmas in our new home...a dream that started at the beginning of
the year is finally here.
Please forgive us if we stop to catch our breath for a day! :)
What better way to do that than give Nicholas his second shot of sensory
overload in a week with a mighty mountain of presents. Nicholas does
tend to hold his own but one thing you learn with the little ones is
that you put together an early present so that when they get tired or
overloaded, they'll be occupied when *YOU* are opening your presents!
One of the first presents opened and put together was an airport set and
it was honestly a photo finish as to who fell more in love with it:
Nicholas or Daddy. This airport is pretty neat as the vehicles can
interact with the terminal (so turning the rotors on the helicopter will
cause helicopter sounds, etc.). The things they can do with toys these
days are just plain amazing!
Nicholas also got to meet a new friend who can be his baby when his
brother comes to join us. His friend is one of the Cabbage Patch
dolls...you know the ones that have names and birth certificates and all
the trimmings, right? We were quite surprised to discover the name of
Nicholas' baby. We just can't make this stuff up, folks...the doll's
name was Alexzander (different spelling than our Alexander James
but a coincidence nonetheless). Mommy was quite surprised, too...the
goal was for Nicholas to have a baby of his own to play with and learn
how to be gentle with his little brother but to subconsciously pick one
with the same name without having looked at the birth certificate is
pretty amazing.
But that's not all...every growing boy needs an industrial strength
Tonka truck. They're so versatile...you can haul stuff with them, you
can push it round the place, and you can use them as a new recliner
chair. It doesn't look like it's the most comfortable of seats but
Nicholas seemed to make it work.
But the big prize of the year was upstairs. It doesn't cease to
amaze us just how much of a difference a year has made in the boy. Last
year, he'd move a bit but was pretty happy to stay in place...this year,
you can try to keep him in one place (it won't work but you can
try!). Last year, his big present was the Peek-a-Blocks wagon.
This year, we appreciated just how little we could get by with last
year without fear of recrimination from our little one. So by moving
the decimal one place to the right, we found ourselves in the big leagues
with a Pottery Barn kitchen that is pretty amazing. He had a
ball playing with the refrigerator and island when we were there
previously and this stuff looks like it could take on Conan the Barbarian
and emerge victorious. I can assure you that they're heavier than you
can imagine if you didn't load it in the truck and schlep those suckers
upstairs for a bit of a put-together session a few days earlier. But
they ought to survive our boys and Nicholas had a great time cooking us
a late breakfast.
You know what? The smile on his face made the last year's trials and
tribulations absolutely worth it.
Once the presents were opened, it was time to just sit and relax and
enjoy the day and the odd Christmas movie on the TV. But the assembly
wasn't done...the time before dinner was devoted to putting together
Midnight, Nicholas' bouncy horse. Midnight was actually
last year's gift from Grammy but with all of the packing and moving,
it was easier to just hold off until we were situated in the new house.
So what if the instructions were in Chinese or Sanskrit and the diagrammes
were drawn by someone with the same talent for graphic arts in a technical
document that I have (read...none at all past stick figures and even those
tend to come out wretchedly at best! Hey...Mommy paints the amazing
murals on the walls...I handle singing and picking at various musical
instruments!) The real pain was getting the plastic tubing pulled up
over the springs (a nice innovation since I had one of these bouncy
horses...landing on those springs hurt!). Nicholas, never one to
pass up a chance to show his superior climbing and equestrian skills
climbed right up there on Midnight and started riding off toward
the entertainment center.
Midnight has been put into the stable upstairs (i.e. Mommy's
office) because our little Nicholas has shown quite an ability to climb
on things. I don't think there is much doubt of what's going in the
back yard this spring. If we don't get a jungle gym out there, the boy
is probably going to go ape! (Oh, I know...I'll pay for that horrible
pun!)
What a day. What a year. And it's our hope that you have a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The legions of Eagle-Eyed BLOG Readers will know that a visit
from Gramps and Grandma Carol is usually a whirlwind affair. You know
there is fast, faster, Mach speed, and the speed of Gramps through
a Target hunting down the bargains to be found. I dare someone to
call me a liar on that one...we've been on those bargain hunting
sessions and trust me when I tell you it's at warp speed. (Gramps, have
I told you that we still love you? Just checking... :)
That's why it was noteworthy that today we just hung out and had fun
here at the house. Yep, you heard me right...we sat down and relaxed.
Considering how the last half of our year has been, you just don't know
how welcome a thing it was do to pretty much nothing but veg-out on
the chairs and shoot the breeze. It's the little things these days
that you really appreciate.
Along the way, we had a couple of good meals with ham, shrimp. Mmmmm.
Where was I? Oh, shrimp. Mmmmm. You know, I hate it when that happens!
Now where was I? Shrimp. And. A. Veggie. Platter. And more croissants
than you can shake a stick at. (Word to the wise...come to our house
hungry but it's on your head if you leave that way! ;)
Unfortunately, before we knew it, dinner was done and it was time for
Gramps and Grandma Carol to head back to the hotel for their trip back
to Florida the next day and another all-to-brief visit came to a close.
But I have this feeling that they'll be back awfully soon after Nicholas'
little brother is born. And I have a feeling the suspension of the
van is going to get another torture test... :)
The trade winds were blowing north from Florida and if you've read the
BLOG long enough, you know what that means. Yep, it's another time for
Moby Dodge, The Great White Whale to set sail for North Carolina
in another 550 mile test of just how much tolerance the Dodge engineers
built into their suspension systems. This time, the suspension got a
really big test. Not only was Gramps' van loaded to the rafters with
citrus and gifts but our new driveway is fairly steep so add about a
25° incline to the load.
Fortunately, those egghead engineers at Dodge once again prevailed
against the determined efforts of Gramps and physics and he sailed
safely to the dock where it was time for the longshoremen to unload
faithful Moby Dodge. OK, it was really Gramps and Daddy but we
have gotten pretty good at unloading lots of stuff and placing it
creatively. My guess was that the new house being noticeably larger
than our previous home was a direct challenge to the abilities of
Gramps to actually fill the house.
You know, that living room floor used to be bereft of stuff!
But Gramps and Grandma Carol, we love you even though you guys do a bang-up
job of contributing to the sensory overload of a certain little one. And
we wouldn't have it any way. After all, Nicholas could use some practice
for the big day coming awfully soon (is it Christmas already...where did
this year go? Oh. Yeah. Now I remember... :)
And what a confidence course it was for Nicholas who bravely opened
packages with abandon and when he abandoned the packages, he saw fit to
actually sit and play with his toys. That's not necessarily a bad thing
to give him a break from sensory overload! Otherwise, you're inviting
the possibility that the kid will be muttering I'm cuckoo for
Cocoa Puffs and making a good case for joining the Dribbler's
Academy. Oh, he already does that, too...teething just will not
give the boy a break. (As an aside...we're pretty much ready for that
to be done and over with...teething is SO overrated an experience
for both parents and child. I'm just saying...)
Little one managed to valiantly vanquish the mighty pile of presents.
Gramps and Grandma Carol managed to vanquish the desire to go to sleep
after an awfully long trip. Well, mostly. But we don't blame you...
a long drive really takes it out of you and it was good to get you here
safely.
Besides, another day, another sensory overload, eh? :)
We've made it through most of the unpacking and surprisingly, we
actually recognize some of this stuff! Seriously, it's nice to be at a
point that you can see the end of the moving in process and the
beginning of the living in process even if the garage is still
stuffed full of stuff. It's hard to believe it's already been a month
since we took command of the new house and it was somewhat surprising
how quickly we settled into being comfortable here.
Mommy and Grammy have gotten a fair amount of painting done in Daddy's
office (a beautiful blue) and the dining room (a two-tone tan and
burgundy that just has to be seen to be believed). They've also got the
base painting done in the boy's bedrooms. Alexander will have a
Finding Nemo mural and theme and Nicholas is getting a combination
racing theme on one wall facing a Bob the Builder mural on the
other. And I have to say that it's really amazing just seeing how
awesome a talent Mommy has. She's really capturing the essence of the
Finding Nemo characters (her renditions of Dory and
Crush just have to be seen to be believed!).
So with all of this going on, we dragged out the Christmas boxes today
and erected the tree as well as did the other decorating (as you can see
when Nicholas decided to do a bit of dancing with Santa!). It may not
be the grand Christmas decorating of years past but I think that getting
up any decorations with the last month we've had is victory enough.
Nicholas is loving his new racing car bed (full size) and his room. The
play room is stuffed to the walls with toys so if the bedroom gets boring,
he's always got an easy escape to fun! And with the new medication for
his reflux, he's sleeping a lot better at night than he used to and we
are so thankful for that, even if it means having to fight with Blue
Cross!
That's been pretty much the pattern of the last few weeks. Daddy got to
hang ceiling fans, put stuff together, and move stuff from place to place...
Mommy and Grammy have done a fair bit of unpacking and putting stuff away.
Unfortunately, our Samantha Stevens-style nose twitch is on the blink
so our desperate attempts to blink everything into place hasn't quite
worked out as we planned! :)
There really hasn't been all that much to report these last couple of
weeks other than we wake up, we do stuff, we fall in bed exhausted. We
did go to Cary Towne Center for the family Christmas pictures and
Nicholas' pictures with Santa...but past that, we've been working to get
the house in ordnung for the holidays.
Nicholas is doing just fine, though...his latest numbers (I don't have
them handy but I remember the percentiles) are 50th percentile on weight,
50th percentile on head circumference, and 25th percentile on height.
All of these are on the regular charts, not the adjusted charts for
preemies. The short version is that he's right on target except for
height and honestly, being tall is overrated anyway. You're forever
running into things.
We are starting to settle into a routine and I have to say it's nice having
a shorter commute which will be much shorter come the first of the year
as my company has just been bought by a company in Cary. That takes a
38 mile commute down to 8.8 miles door-to-door. Sweet. And it's a good
opportunity for the company as well so I'm definitely looking forward
to the transition which occurs at the end of the month.
At any rate, the BLOG is caught up (for now!). I am playing with actual
blogging software so the format of the BLOG may well change but I haven't
made any decisions on that. The new software would make things like
posting new articles as well as doing the archival maintenance easier
which makes it nice to be able to just concentrate on the stories without
the hand-crafted HTML you've come to love. So hang in there, if I do
switch the format of the BLOG, you'll be the first to know.
Even though we know why you're really coming back here...it's the pictures,
admit it. :)