I’m going to be honest. March has not really been our month.
We are fine and we have so much to be thankful for, but this month has just
been one of those physically and emotionally exhausting times in life. We were
so looking forward to it. Family visits, Levi’s birthday, a precious friend’s
wedding, beautiful spring weather – it was going to be delightful. It started
off well enough with a few friends and family members coming over to celebrate
Levi’s first birthday with us. Justin’s parents even flew down all the way from
Michigan for the big event. They sure do love this little guy. We scheduled his
party a week early because I was in a wedding in Houston the weekend of his
birthday. Boy did that turn out to be a good thing! The party was fun and we
were so thankful to celebrate a year of survival our precious boy.
I noticed that next week that Levi wasn’t really acting like
himself. And by that I mean, he napped. Every day leading up to his birthday,
he napped, in his crib, for at least an hour. You may not think this is a big
deal, but you also may not be the sleep deprived mother of a child who gave up
naps at birth, give or take a few months. It was a very big deal. And then I realized that he was sick.
We had been planning a fun family day to celebrate our
little boy’s birthday. Justin was taking Friday afternoon off and we were going
to take Levi on his first trip to the zoo. The forecast was beautiful. Levi was
having a great week (remember all the naps?!). I was so on board with having a
one year old if this was going to be our new normal. And then Thursday, Levi
got sick. And by Thursday night, I was sick. And Levi and I got to spend his
birthday-eve throwing up and feeling like death. All. night. long. Friday was
miserable and we didn’t make it out of the house, let alone to the zoo. Happy
birthday, baby!
Saturday morning we left early in the morning to head to
Houston. The wedding was wonderful and we were overjoyed to see our friend so
happy. I was so thankful to be a part of such a beautiful weekend. Our
behind-the-scenes moments, however, were not so pretty. The logistics of having
a sick baby who was refusing to eat and a sick husband (oh yes, did I mention
that by this point Justin had caught it too?) made for an interesting couple of
days. I needed, and wanted, to be involved in all of the wedding festivities,
but also needed, and wanted, to take care of my boys. Since my little one was
feeling lousy and was refusing to eat or drink anything except to nurse, he had
to stay nearby. But we also didn’t want to get everyone around us sick,
especially the happy couple. Considering that I was in the wedding, keeping our
distance wasn’t all that easy, but we did out best.
Thankfully, Justin bounced back pretty quickly and was
feeling fine by Sunday, the day of the wedding. Overall the weekend went
something like this: I would go to brunch, then go and walk circles with an
inconsolable baby. We would go to the rehearsal dinner, then head back and
clean up a car seat poo-splosion. I would go help decorate and Justin would
stay back and clean up baby vomit. Parenthood is glamorous, isn’t it?
Levi being sick, being out of our routine, daylight savings,
and goodness knows what else seemed to create the perfect storm to reset our
young one to newborn mode. We found ourselves dealing with the same issues that
characterized his newborn days. Weight concerns. Refusal to be put down without
a meltdown. Crazy clinginess. And sleeping became non-existent. We’re talking
up from 11pm-4am kind of nights. Night after night after night. Did I mention that a couple of new teeth
also decided that this would be an ideal time to appear? Yep.
All of this was the week leading up to Levi’s 12 month
doctor’s appointment, where we learned that he had not gained any weight since
his 9 month appointment, or at least had lost any weight he had gained to the
stomach bug. He actually weighed in less than he had 3 months prior. Now I’m no
doctor, but I’m pretty sure they are supposed to gain weight at this age. And
just when he had finally made it onto the charts, too. Levi now weighs less
than my 5 month old nephew and my 7 month old niece. At this rate, his newest cousin is going to catch up to him. What am I doing wrong here, folks?
Alas, our little boy is slowly getting back to normal.
Finally. Boy did I miss that smile! He is playing again and acting more and more like
himself, he is no longer throwing up every time he tries to eat solid foods,
and he is beginning to remember that nights are for sleeping. Kind of…
Our biggest concern right now is that he is still not back
to eating as well as we would like. Considering that he has had trouble gaining
weight for, well, his entire life and in light of his recent weight check, I’m
really not thrilled that he has started refusing at least half of his
previously enjoyed foods. We have had enough of a struggle getting him to put
on the pounds without the help of this stomach bug and subsequent food
pickiness. If this illness has made a permanently picky eater out of my child
I’m going to be seriously bummed. We are seeing some progress though, and we
are thankful for that.
Yesterday, when we had finally gotten the afternoon’s
teething pain under control, I was tickling Levi and made him lose his balance.
He fell flat on his face on the hard kitchen floor. Blood. Everywhere. I’m
really feeling good about my parenting skills right about now.
At least he
didn’t knock out any of those pearly whites. We’ve worked hard for those
things.
Here’s to hoping for a cheerier April!
