Hi everyone!
It has been WAY too long since I have written. So much has happened, as you can probably imagine.
It’s just been one thing after another, but not all bad things.
I just want to take a little time today to catch everyone up on life and what’s been happening, the big things.
So since the last time we talked, we made our first family trip by plane to Texas to visit my husband’s family for Thanksgiving. We had a great trip and an amazing time. Sawyer did as well as expected on his first flight. He was very restless the first flight (which was to Houston). We changed planes in Houston and then after that, he actually fell asleep. I think it was just all new for him and he was all over the place trying to get down and crawl around. After we arrived, we had a great time. He slept well, and ate well. Little did we know that he actually had his first ear infection while we were there. He didn’t really show too many signs or symptoms. We took him to the doctor when we got back home, and he was treated for a bilateral ear infection. He also started cutting his first 2 teeth while we were traveling. All of his symptoms, we just thought were from him teething. But he recovered rather quickly from everything and was all good.
Sometime after that in December, he cut 3 more teeth. So we now had a total of 5. Two on top and three on bottom. This leads us up to his first birthday party. We had a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party. We had around 30 people (yes 30) including us, family and friends. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring. He didn’t really smash his cake, which is really what I expected. He just touched it and stuck his fingers in it. Totally fine. As long as he had fun, that’s all that matters. He got so many gifts, he didn’t know what to play with first. He still doesn’t know what toys to play with first in the mornings. He spends most days shuffling through all of them.
That same weekend, my father-in-law moved here from Texas and moved into our basement to live with us. It’s working out amazing and he’s there every day to take care of Sawyer. It’s great because Sawyer is in our house and we don’t have to take him to baby sitters or pay anyone or a daycare, which is fantastic.
The next weekend, we traveled to my parent’s house for our family Christmas. This was December 22. We ended up staying there through Christmas Day where we traveled back home. That Saturday started it all. We got up that morning and I was feeling a little off. I went on to my hair appointment and continued the day just like we had planned. While at the hair salon, it hit me. The stomach bug. It was awful. I was able to make it back home before it got too bad, but I spent the remainder of our family Christmas quarantined in the back bedroom, sick as a dog. Luckily, it only lasted about 24 hours. We were able to spend the rest of our time there as a family.
Christmas morning was great. Sawyer, of course, had no idea what was happening but I could see the excitement in his eyes as he got to open more presents. He got so many things from family and Santa that my mom had to bring half of his presents that next weekend because we couldn’t fit it all in my SUV to go home with. That night, the hubs got the dreaded stomach bug. He spent the rest of the day and the next day alone in the bedroom. Luckily, he was feeling a lot better the next day, so he was able to celebrate Sawyer’s first birthday with us when he got home from work that night.
This takes us into New Years, where Sawyer began waking up screaming in the middle of the night. As I’ve mentioned before, Sawyer is a great sleeper. He even sleeps well, for the most part, when he’s not feeling too good. So for him to wake up screaming bloody murder, that’s a huge thing. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the night New Years Eve, sleeping in our room sitting up, on my chest. Something he hasn’t done since he was a little bitty baby. We ended up taking him to a Children’s Healthcare Urgent Care on New Years Day morning because we just knew something wasn’t right. And of course, they confirmed out suspicions… another bilateral ear infection. Poor kid. This time, he was showing all of the signs of just being uncomfortable. He was treated for this and it did go away, but he was not eating much. He wouldn’t drink a lot either so we had to purchase Pedialyte for him just to get him to drink.
He had his 12 month check up on that following Monday at his pediatrician’s office. I got up to get him ready and something hit me. I’m thinking it was food poisoning (that’s another story for another time), but I was unable to make the trip. The husband had to come back home and take him to his appointment for me. While there, they checked his ears and said they looked great, but we were still concerned about him not eating. His doctor checked his mouth and said he was teething again and that would explain it. Sure enough, about a week later he cut two more teeth on the top.
That then leads us up to the next week where hubby got ANOTHER stomach bug. We just couldn’t catch a break in our house. This one lasted another 24 hours. Then, about two weeks later, on a Friday, Sawyer got his first virus. I’m surprised, actually, that he was able to avoid them up until this point. But he was a sick little guy. He couldn’t keep anything down. By the next morning, he was still throwing up, but around 10:00 am, he started feeling better and was able to start drinking Pedialyte and eating small amount of food.
This bring us to February. The week before Valentine’s Day, where he FINALLY started taking his first steps. Just a couple here and there. Then, the day after Valentine’s Day, he walked his first group of steps for the first time. Took about 6-8 steps. Then the same night, took about 8-10 before falling. And he hasn’t looked back. He’s a walking machine now. He still falls and crawls around, but walking is becoming our main means of mobility, and he’s loving every minute of it. I’m so excited for him. He’s so proud of himself.
I was telling my husband this weekend that I use to think that infancy was my favorite time for babies. I loved holding them and snuggling them. But I think that’s changed. I think when they start hitting milestones, like sitting up and crawling, and trying foods.. I think those times have become by favorite seasons. Watching him learn new things and the excitement on his face when he does something new is the greatest. That smile is so contagious. He’s also becoming more of a “mama’s boy”, which I’m not going to lie, I love. He loves to snuggle first thing in the morning and after all of his naps. I’m eating it all up. This time won’t last forever.
So, I’m excited for this new season we are about to enter. He’s going to be getting busier and busier as his walking progresses, but I’m ready. I’m excited for it. Just the different things that we will be able to do and watching him grow and learn is the best. I definitely looking forward to what’s to come.
For those of you that have been following my story regularly, I hope to not take so long next time for an update. 🙂
Jess Luvs 