mandalei

Ben sez he like

There were a few things that stuck out for us yesterday.  Jack slept through the night for the first night ever (Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad!), and that kid is going to grow up hopelessly spoiled if the presents continue for future Christmases.  We seriously need to rethink storage options in his room.  After we put the plate covers back on the electrical outlets, of course.

One of the stocking stuffers I bought for Ben was a small keychain.  It’s the kind that beeps and blinks when you whistle, which seems pretty cool until you remember that,darn, Ben can’t whistle.  Which he pointed out to me so kindly when he asked with righteous indignation “What is this, some kind of cruel joke?”  And yes… I had forgotten.

All was not lost, however, because a miraculous event occurred: Jack’s high pitched squealing sets that thing off better than any whistle. Christmas was saved!   Pictures will be posted at some point.  Hope everyone had a great holiday, and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a lovely Tuesday!

Jack in a box

I don’t know why I bother with teething-specific gewgaws.  All Jack needs is a solid silicone spatula and he’s happy as a pig in… well, he’s happy.  It has just the right amount of give, but it’s also still really firm.  He’s also sitting in the best thing in the world: a chair that hangs from the edge of a table or bar. In this case,Jack is set up so he can watch me cook or do whatever in the kitchen, and he’s got a solid surface he can put stuff on.  He also has a nice handy hole in front of him where he can drop everything, and then look down to see where it went. 

I finished Ben’s stocking in record time this afternoon, and am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It was a heck of alot easier than the one I made for me!  Which is now MIA.  Hmmmm.

If you look closely, you can see red chili pepper lights on teh cactus.  And yes, hat is Santa riding a horse dressed like a cowboy, and he’s riding a steer down near the toe.  Note in particular the holly on his ass-kickin’ boots.

We have about 10 inches of snow on the ground here, and more to come this afternoon and evening.  We’re taking advantage of being indoors for a bit to have a nice home kind of day.  To that end, we’ve made the following so far:

Homemade sour mix (which we have then used to make whiskey and amaretto sours, using lemons, limes, and simple syrup)

For breakfast, fresh biscuits with raw starthistle honey

Roasted lemon/rosemary/garlic chicken (later this afternoon)

We’re also going to try and finish up the last of our Christmas packing and wrapping, and perhaps finish up some of the gift purchasing we need to get done.  It’s tempting to go out and tromp around in the snow, but we don’t have a windproof suit for Jack yet.  We went to go get one yesterday at LL Bean, and OMG–the lines was over an hour long.  For some reason, we didn’t think that it would be quite so insane out there with holiday shopping, but then it has been a long time since we’ve actually gone out to *do* holiday shopping… Jack charmed everyone, though, and was especially flirty with the ladies.  Hello ladies!

Jack seems to be recovering well from his surgery, and thank you to everyone who has asked.  Tomorrow is his 6 month appointment for vaccines and such, and I will make sure his doctor takes a good look to make sure everything is healing as it should.  As much as I hate to admit it, the hiatus of cloth diaper washing has been so very very nice.   While I will be happy he’s healed enough to not need water-resistant healing salves anymore, I will be sad not to have such an easy excuse to use something so darn convenient (not to mention he fights us less to put them on).

Based on our experiences today, with Jack’s minor surgery:

Always carry 10x the toys you would normally carry. Inevitably they will get thrown or touch something that kind of creeps you out (like the floor), and ou will need to replace it with another. And another. Aaaaand one more.

Also, the pacifier-savers that clip on to the pacifier and attach to the kid’s clothing are lifesavers–see above about things touching the floor.

Bring socks.  Your baby will get cold in the OR under anesthesia, and while they supply a cap, they may or may not tell you to bring your own socks.  We didn’t have socks.

Bring your own bottles. When they give you something for the babe to drink after coming out of anesthesia, like glucose water in a bottle that has a simple screw-on cap/nipple, guaranteed their bottle will leak all over the place. You will want to transfer the beverage to something that a) doesn’t leak and b) your kid will drink from with no problem. If you have a toddler, perhaps that bottle isn’t as familiar as a sippy cup.

Bring your game face.  Your kid will need you to be as calm and happy as possible before the procedure begins.  You can break down in the cafeteria or hallway, as soon as he can’t see you anymore.  Or both.

Be prepared for major screaming when the anesthesia starts to wear off. This doesn’t have so much to do with you as it does with simply feeling really freakin’ weird after anesthesia. Be prepared for *your* reaction, which will be much more stressed-seeming than what the kid will think!

For the most part, if you have a baby, people are much more accepting and tolerant than if you were there for a procedure for yourself.  Noone likes to be in the hospital, and they feel compassion and pity for a little one who has to be there who really has no choice or say in the matter.  This helps a great deal, because people are more likely to open doors for you and your stroller, offer to tell you where the nearest restroom/cafeteria/vending machine is, and also laugh off when your kiddo decides to set up some high pitched squealing action in the corner.  Of course, it sucks for them when you’re in recovery afterwards and your baby is cring louder and harder than he has ever done before.  Sorry!  He has no other choice.  Of course, you’re so focused on your baby and trying to soothe him that you have very few thoughts to spare until he has dropped off into sleep after the anesthesia screaming stops.

*For the record, Jack had surgery to correct a minor issue due to hypospadias.  He’s doing just fine, and has eaten like crazy since we’ve been home.  We put him down for bed, and he seemed to go right to sleep.  Thanks to everyone for their wishes and prayers.