The Blur...

If I had known how sleepless parenting could be, I would have slept some more before he came home... LOL. Seriously. Who knew? In all seriousness, the last 2 weeks are a total blur. And the main things I remember are those I note below. Sad, but true. Ok, all you parents out there have a good giggle. As much as I respected all of you and envied you the role of parenting, I just didn't get the having 4 hours or less of sleep and then parenting a child all day and working on his naps was totally different from having 4 or less hours of sleep and then caffenaiting your way through a work shift all day. Amidst all this, Jeff was a trooper working all his shifts and I got to stay overnight up at the university - I was launching a class that will now be fun teaching online until March... and LM stayed at Gamma and Granddad's for the first time!!! Anyway, here goes:

Week 28 brought our poor LM into a serious set of night terrors. The entire 2nd week and into the 3rd week of his post tonsils/adenoids/etc time, every night, 2-3 times/night. It was nothing we were warned up, and by the morning of night 8, we waved a white flag to our ENT who was speechless. Upon researching on the net, it seems we are not alone. So, truly, week 28 was a blur of sleeplessness & worry... If your child has not had night terrors, count yourself as fortunate, they are terrifying and heartbreaking for everyone involved... Thankfully for LM & us, week 29 brought a couple nights respit from the nightmares, and we are hoping they will continue to decrease....

"It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Can I just huddle under my hood

and snuggle a while with you?
Zoinks am I tired from not sleeping much.

While week 29 was still a blur, it was less of one. Jeff and I had both taken a few days "off", as our hope was to head south to Florida for a few days of warmth and sun the 3 of us before LM turned 2... But, the T&A put that on a "hold", and we thought about the "local" chocolate land & their candy lane fun... but the night terrors put a hold on that (we were being compassionate to our fellow hotel go-ers). So, we rounded up some fun, right here in our own backyard... Here are some photos of the fun...
First, we went on the local "Polar Express" -- it was an old, coal stoked train. Truly, every time I take him out of the car seat, he has this look of wonderment and "what adventure now, Mama?" expression. Well, let me just tell you -- I thought LM was going to jump out of his pants when we got out of the car. He is into book trains, trucks, etc but this was his first "in person" train -- and talk about synapses hopping. It was hilarious.
Our LM LOVES music. To the point we really wonder about his heritage - He will find any musical instrument in any locale, and play it as much as he can. On the train, he was hooked on the guitar guy, who was kind enough to show him "the ropes.." er,I mean "the strings"...

Guitar Hero Here I Come!!

There are, on a Thurs - Sunday, up to 400 families on this train. Of course we were ever so glad to hear that and that we chose to go on a Tuesday -- it was us, our buds from college and their kiddos, and 1 other family... so, we got lots of attention from the "crew"... including...A little visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus... Ironically, the adopted a little gal from China 13 years ago... so they spent extra time with him... This was about as close as he'll get to Santa this year... LM is going through, what we feel, is a very healthy latent stage stranger anxiety (which we would like to think means he is realizing he is connected to us)... So, while many people will disagree, we know he'll not be happy with sitting on some strange man's lap... and we've opted out of the crying child photo for this year -- we've all worked too hard on attachment to this point -- why have the big guy in red upset our LM this year?

"OK, who are these red robed people and when do I get another hot cocoa?"

It's been a super cold week here on the E. Coast... and LM has been completely into his woobie. Yup. We can't get the thing away from him. No worries, we have a vice president and woobie ready and always in a different place, just in case president woobie finds it's way to an unexpected demise... meanwhile....

"Wrap it up, I'll Take it"...

We also got our tree this week... Yup. We drove and drove all the way to our local tree farm (aka: Favorite Dairy Queen) and we tromped through the rows and rows of the forest (I mean, parking lot) to find the winner...

What to you mean you are surprised to see Ashton helped pick it out?

We wanted (ok, strike that, I wanted, and Jeff went along with it) to start some sort of new tradition that we could do every year on the night we decorated our tree... so here's what we did...First, Bonfire & Hot Cocoa to get ourselves into the mood
Then...

"Lights"

"Reindeer"

"Action"
Oh wait, I suppose not really on Ashton's part.

Then....

Pizza Picnic in the Living Room...

we NEVER let him eat anywhere but the kitchen table, so LM was completely into this whole scene!! Note, Ashton has wisened up to see if he could get himself some action and a piece of the "christmas pie", if you will.
All in all, it was a great night, and a really nice few days off together...
At the end of the week, Jeff got snowed in at the hospital, so LM and I and Ashton held down the snowy fort (we are talking 14 inches people). Come on Florida and Cali friends, don't hold back with your envy of our white and freezing cold Christmas wonderland. You are welcome to visit ANYTIME. LOL :)

"It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Home 29 Weeks...
If I click my feet 3 times, will it be summer again???