Sick & Stuff

I am so happy to be home.

I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. But here we are.

My body decided it would hold off getting sick until the very end of our journey. Literally, 20 minutes before we touched down in Chicago from our California visit, my ear plugged up entirely. I thought it was just the cabin pressure that caused it to stay that way, but now we're going on 4 days and the other ear is now plugged as well. Along with flu symptoms and a nonstop running nose and the whole nine. It could just be a massive head cold, but it's bad. Thankfully, no fever.

Knock on wood, but the resilient 8-month old-- yes, EIGHT-- is still free of sickness as his obsessive mom is washing her hands 3.2 million times a day and sanitizing up to high heaven. B also had his flu shots (2!), but so did I. So much for that investment.

Wanna see a picture of the 8-month-old I speak of? Thought so.

This is what happens when I sit him down. Crankypants x10.

Took a little break, had some milk and now he's just copping an attitude.

You thought I'd keep this thing on? Riiiiight.

This will be in my mouth in approximately .5 seconds. Just so you know.

Notice the shoes. They're new. I'm probably more excited about him wearing shoes than anything I've ever bought him. Who would've thought they'd look so cute? I certainly didn't.

I am anxious to get back into cooking. I have a few recipes in the queue that I cannot wait to tackle when I don't feel like 10 sumo wrestlers are slamming bricks into my head. Until then, we're crock potting over here with yellow split pea soup (who knew there was a yellow variety?), bread, and frozen delicacies.

I missed a picnic with friends yesterday in unseasonably warm fall weather because of this stupid cold and watch... next week's going to hit freezing temps I'm sure, casting me inside for months to come. I'm determined to get B outside for a walk today.

Ever since we've been home, he's been a champion sleeper. Maybe he's making up for the sleep he lost while we traveled? 12+ hours at night with no wakeups and 2-3 hours naps. I'm not bragging... just beside myself at the change. Perhaps it's the non-drowsy Sudafed I've been taking that somehow makes it into my breastmilk and makes him drowsy? Taking care of a kiddo while you're sick is no simple task, but one I'm so freaking fortunate to have.

On our flight home from California on Sunday, he was Senior Crankypants and we thought it was just because he'd been off a normal schedule for so long. That could be a contributing factor, but then I discovered on Tuesday that he had broken through his first top tooth! Ah, so that explains things. I am the skeptic who is never quick to blame teething on his behavior changes, but this time, it really was the case. Those poor souls on the flight home with us. At least he's a cute little crankster.

I've been thinking of Andrew even more than usual lately. It's the seasons changing and being just over a month from his 2nd birthday that is still baffling to me. We're in talks of replacing his unfitting urn with one that fits. I think we'll make it happen around his birthday. I've even thought it would be nice to donate our former urn (is that gross?) to the funeral home for another family who may have lost their child and it be a good fit for them. We will be discussing our concern about them not notifying the family if the remains do not fully fit before they come to pick up their deceased child. Kind of a heavy topic for this post... not intended. Apologies for the abruptness of it all. It's just how my brain works nowadays living as a mom to one living and one passed. Not a whole lot of option in that reality.

Today is a whole lot of R&R around these parts. I'll post about Nashville and California soon. Off to make some dragon noodles for lunch.