March 27

I sent Caleb off to school today, and he did just fine.

Once he was on the bus, Lily and Daisy decided to play in the basement. Amazingly, they can play happily down there without any supervision for quite a while. I realize that many children can't be trusted in areas like that because they'll wreak havoc, and I absolutely appreciate the fact that I can simply turn mine loose. It bought me some time to eat breakfast, drink coffee, read the paper... all while wearing Eli.

It's funny how, right around 6 or 7 weeks old, Eli kind of "woke up". He went from being a sleepy preemie to a full-fledged newborn. Even though his due date was March 4, we were expecting him to arrive between March 11-March 15, and that window is when he "woke up". I firmly believe that he really should have gestated until then, and it's funny to think how different life would be if that had happened!

But it didn't happen, and tomorrow marks two months worth of Eli in our lives. Isn't it funny how time flies? And yet I still haven't managed to finish writing his birth story or change the name of the blog. Baby steps, people. Baby steps. I'm barely treading water here.

Anyway, everyone knows I love babywearing in all of its forms. My collection of carriers and knowledge is slowly growing, and it's definitely a passion of mine. But in the last few weeks, babywearing has become more of a necessity than a passion. Once Eli "woke up", he didn't want to be put down. He has more and more alert periods, but he is only happy during those times if he is being held or worn. It's exhausting, but at least I have an arsenal of carriers to keep him close and still allow me to function a little bit.

This was my view for much of the morning:

Alert Eli (with one goopy eye), looking up at me from the pouch of my ring sling. And toys on the floor. Because Lord, there are always toys on the floor. I know, I know. You seasoned mamas are all itching to remind me that one day there will be no more toys on the floor, and that these years pass so quickly... I realize this, and I'm trying to cherish it, and yet I still silently curse every time I trip over a darn toy on the floor. 

Immediately after I took the picture above, Lily said, "Ook? Ook?"

She wanted to look at the picture I had taken. So I showed her, and then I said, "Here, let's take one of you!'

Cue toddler temper tantrum, while sitting on her changing table.

Awful, isn't it? Having a mean mommy who wants to take your picture?

I put the girls down for early naps, and when they woke I packed up some snacks, we picked Caleb up at school, and we made the drive to our doctor's office. Caleb insisted that he felt better today and that his ear didn't hurt anymore, but the doctor very quickly verified a nasty infection in his left ear. She also had time to look at Lily's ears; they were so crusted with wax that she couldn't see anything. I suspect that the right eardrum ruptured, so she didn't want to dig in the wax too much on that side. On the left side she was able to clear away enough of the wax to see that the eardrum was red and bulging - another infection. That makes Lily a candidate for tubes, and I'm not sure what I think about that. They need to go back for a recheck in two weeks, so I suppose I have at least that much time to research and ponder our options.

At this point, all of my opposition to antibiotics has crumbled to the ground, and I am grasping desperately at anything that will make my children better, so I eagerly accepted her offer of antibiotics for both children. 

But the bright spot of the day? I weighed Eli, and he is now 9 pounds, 4 ounces! He's gaining weight steadily, and is now the size of a normal newborn. Go Eli! I have this awesome software from the World Health Organization that lets me track each child's growth; I found it when Daisy stopped gaining weight and I needed to document every ounce. I've been putting it to good use with Eli, too. There's something about seeing measurable progress that gives this mama infinite joy.

What? Doesn't this line graph warm your heart, too? Look at where we started, and where we are now! The red line is the 3rd percentile according to WHO, and we're almost there! Keep going, little man!