Winter Babies

I have not been blogging very much recently. That is mostly due to lack of sleep, lack of intelligent thought, and excess of poor health. Our sweet little dude got sick. So, around three weeks of life, he became congested. The normal congestion of all winter babies. It was impossible to breathe without making noise, but there wasn't much we could for him.

Then about a week and a half ago, he became more sick. A cough was added to the congestion. Sometimes he wouldn't be able to breathe (he never turned blue).

Then the cough got huskier, and he lost his ability to volumize—and I'm not talking about his hair. :) His cry became this weak little almost squeak that you could barely hear in the same room. That made me afraid to ever leave him or even sleep without him, because crying is all a baby has really. That's how I know if he is hungry, poopy, too hot, too cold, etc. How he expresses that all is not right in his world.

Well, things are improving now. He physically looks a lot better and never is so congested that he can't breathe. He still has a cough, and he is not back to full volume. The sad newest addition is massive spit up/throw up.

He used to never spit up. I think in the month of January, he did maybe twice. Three times? Now he does at least one whopper every evening. On lucky evenings, it happens twice. And forcefully. It comes out of his nose. That is why I think it may be throw up rather than spit up. But I'm not really sure how you could ever tell the difference.

He hasn't been dreadfully sick, hasn't needed to be hospitalized, so we feel very blessed. But life has been a bit in an upheaval for me this month. I am excited for March. :)

And about the picture on the left, I have no idea why Jill wanted to include the cat bed.

February was not all horrible though. One highlight is that Jill's hockey obsession continues. As Jeff and I geared up to give her a Valentine's Day present, I tried to explain to Jill what holidays are. I told her that day was a holiday and asked her what happens on holidays.

She looked at me, grinned, and said, "hockey!"

She was, in fact, so adamant that hockey is what holidays are all about that we were even able to get it on film. So that cute memory is preserved. Yay!

We surprised Jeff at work on Valentine's Day, bringing him a chocoflan to share. Delicious!

Jill is speaking in sentences a lot now, which is awesome. The other day, Jeff went in to get her after her nap. He said, "Jill, where is your bottle?" She pointed up to the shelf attached to her crib. He said, "Jill, it's not there." She looked at him with great alarm and said, "Find it, Daddy. Find it!" (The mystery was solved upon discovering that I had already brought the bottle down to the kitchen.)

I bought a Mickey and Minnie Mouse shirt, because Jill loves them and is really excited when Daniel wears a pair of pajamas with Mickey on it. I thought I would receive the same reaction. Not so. She has cried the two times I have decided to wear it. I think that when she saw it in the store, she must have thought the shirt was for her. That's the only reason for her dismay that I can think of.

Jill used to love to have me sing to her. Now it is not as delightful as it once was. She asks repeatedly for "Fluffy's Song." I have no idea what that song is. It could be a mispronunciation of "Zoe" from Sesame Street, because "Fluffy" is how she pronounces "Zoe," but I don't know what "Zoe's Song" is either, so that doesn't help.

Does anyone know if Zoe has a song? She sometimes also asks for "Bert's Song." Does he have a song, too? Help, please! Thank goodness I know Elmo's, Ernie's, and Cookie's songs.

Update: She seems to also call the Snuffleufagus "Fluffy" as well. Does he have a song? (Oh my gosh!! I just googled the spelling to find out how to really write his name, and I guessed correctly on my first try. Yay me! And if you were curious, his first name appears to be Aloysius.)

And to cap off the February highlights, my future sister-in-law Cyanne lives with us now. (Her name is like "Diana" pronounced with a "K" sound instead of a "D" sound.) She and Ryan are getting married at the end of the May, and it has been a lot of fun to get to know her better and to have her around. Jill just loves her, and Cyanne is even willing to change diapers! If she is home, she even lets me run to the store—or wherever—and leave Jill, or both of them, with her.

I have always felt blessed to have Laurie, my mother-in-law, so close by to always help, and now I'm doubly blessed to have Cyanne super close!

Oh, and one last sign that Jill is growing up. She will now leave piggy tails, pony tails, and clips in her hair for longer than ten seconds. I think the record is five hours or so. Yay!