Friday, January 3, 2014

A New Year? Don't mind if I do.

First off- for those who have asked, Liam is doing awesome.  No repercussions from the seizure, except for two parents who are living on edge.  Andy and I have not been the same since the episode.  How could you be?  I keep reminding him- if we were "okay" after all that, we wouldn't be good parents.  Good parents worry about their kids.

Christmas came and left.  When it left, it forgot to take ALL the toys, games, cars, instruments and other play things it brought with it.  All in good fun though.  Liam got many very, VERY cool things.  Last year he slept.  This year he played, and that was cool.  Andy's family would not wrap gifts and just set them up for play.  My family would wrap.  This year we did a little of both.  The biggest gift was probably the drum set.

 
 
Christmas morning was followed by visitors from the north- In Laws.  They also came bearing gifts.  My MIL instantly took over my house- washing all my dishes and other things she didn't have to do.  I kept saying to her, "You don't have to do that.  Please.  You don't have to do that."  She doesn't have a dishwasher at home, so I kept unloading what she had loaded (no pots and pans can't go in the dishwasher...no, those thermos sippy cups have to be washed by hand...I'm sorry, we can't wash the Pampered Chef ice cream scoop...)  I'm the kind of person who likes to do my own stuff.  Maybe I'm not the best house keeper, but I like to do it myself. 
 
I ALSO learned this Christmas season, with five adults and one baby in our house, that we seriously need a lock on our bedroom door.  People who don't have kids don't know that when you need a tender moment alone, you've got to plan it.  As soon as Liam is down at night, we run out of that room like a soldier running from a grenade.  "Go go go!!!  We've got two hours before he wakes up again!!!"  Since my MIL was taking over my life, she also took over my child, which meant the moment he awoke in the morning, she'd grab him and he would be her ward for the rest of the day.  I decided to embrace it AND embrace my husband.  It was almost magic how this was an invitation for door knocking.  Thanks for knocking, MIL.
 
I have nothing to complain about.  We are blessed with a warm house and food in our bellies.  We've been given a healthy child and that in and of itself is a gift worth more than all the riches in the world.  Or a lock on our bedroom door.  Liam tends to get very overstimulated when his grandparents are around, so he's been waking up every two hours now instead of just twice a night.  He will toddle over to my side of the bed and tap my face...and of course I pick him up and cuddle him.  What else can I do?  He puts his hand on my face and his forehead on my mouth and breathe a little sigh of relief.  "Phew.  Momma is here."
 

You don't recognize how much your child is picking up from you.  Liam runs every night when it's time to take my shot for my MS.  He can pretty much perform the whole process by himself now- but I don't let him.  Sometimes I fight back tears as I ask him if he's going to grow up to find a cure for mommy.  After I'm done, I reset the injection pen with no syringe in it, of course, and he gives himself a "shot."  He laughs, because he thinks it's funny, and in a way, I think we're bonding.  He wants to be like me- God love him. 

So I'll take the New Year.  No resolutions.  If I had one to post, I'd probably say, "Be better at existing."  But I'll just keep chugging along.