Ethan - 10 Months

It's been an eventful couple of weeks! Let me start by apologizing for not updating sooner - two weeks ago I had mastitis, and let me tell you, it was AWFUL! The worst part was feeling like a had the flu, complete with fever of 102. I started feeling pretty miserable on a Monday afternoon, saw the doctor on Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday afternoon (once the meds starting kicking in and I was able to get some rest thanks to my in-laws coming to my rescue and spending the day helping out with Ethan) I was starting to feel much better. I had to take my medicine every 6 hours, and for those of you who don't know, I am TERRIBLE at swallowing pills. I try and try (and if you have a secret that works for you, I can bet that I've tried that too) and so I ended up opening up the capsule and mixing the powder with applesauce and sugar. Probably not the best method, but hey, I got down every one of those 28 pills within a week. Yes, I would count them out throughout the week to see how many were left. Being sick while caring for a baby full time is hard work. I remember when Patrick got the flu this past winter he went and spent several days hiding out in the guest room and sleeping the day away to recover. I have discovered that mothers do not have this luxury. Thank goodness the medicine kicked in pretty quickly though, so I wasn't out of the game for too long. It's been several years since I've felt that badly so I'm glad that is all behind us now.

Ethan and I went on a roadtrip together this past weekend. (Patrick was working - the downside of being married to a golf pro is that getting a full weekend off is a rare luxury.) We drove up to Blacksburg, VA to visit with my Aunt Susie and cousins, Anna and Suzanne. Anna is in grad school in NYC at Columbia (hopefully Ethan will have some of her smarts!) and was in town for the weekend so it was a great opportunity for us to all get together. My sister Carolyn drove up from Raleigh and she and I stayed at the hotel with Ethan. We had so much fun!

I left Charlotte about the time that Ethan usually goes down for his morning nap thinking that he would sleep the majority of the three hour drive there. Not so! He slept for about 40 minutes and was up for the remainder of the trip. I have to give him credit though, because he was a fantastic passenger. He did not cry at all! I planned ahead and had a bag full of toys on the passenger seat, and every time he threw the toy he was playing with, I would reach into the bag and pass him a new toy and he would stay occupied with that toy for awhile. Then he would repeat the above scenario - throw the toy across the backseat, I would pass him a new one, and he would be engrossed in the new toy for awhile, and then repeat again. When we finally arrived in Blacksburg the backseat was littered with toys, but he was happy and since I was traveling alone with him I was just relieved that we made it there without some sort of breakdown.

We all went out to lunch together and Ethan enjoyed sitting right next to Suzanne. After lunch we went to some stores and Ethan finally fell asleep in his stroller in the book store. We decided that the elevator music and cool air conditioning must have done the trick. He snoozed away for the next 30 minutes or so, but that was it for naps for the day. I was a little worried that he was going to lose his marbles, but fortunately he was so interested in seeing everything that was going on around him that he did fairly well. Later that afternoon we headed over to the pool where Suzanne was lifeguarding and hung out for awhile. Aunt Susie came over a little later with a fabulous spread of food for dinner. It was soooo yummy! I think Carolyn and I decided that the food alone makes it worth the trip. After a couple hours at the pool I could tell that Ethan was getting pretty sleepy so I took him back to the hotel and got him all ready for bed and he went to sleep in his pack n play immediately. I got about an hour to chill by myself and once Suzanne's shift was over my aunt came to sit in the hotel room so I could go out with my aunt and cousin. It was so sweet of her because it is rare that I get to go out baby-free these days.

Carolyn, Anna and I went to a wine bar and got to just sit and visit on the patio for awhile. It was very relaxing. (Suzanne had to head back to Radford for the night, but we saw her again in the AM.) When we got back to the hotel I was relieved that Ethan had been asleep the entire time and therefore my aunt hadn't had a screaming child on her hands. This was Ethan's first time in a hotel and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about how he would behave. Everything was going pretty well until about 2:30 am and I heard somebody out in the hall talking. Ethan must have heard him too, because all of a sudden I heard a loud wail coming from the pack n play. Yikes! I rushed to him and he quieted down the second I picked him up (I was not about to leave a crying child be with my sister in the room and other hotel guests who probably wouldn't appreciate a crying child in the middle of the night) but every time I tried to lay him back down he would cry. If he was in my arms he was sound asleep, but laying down again in the pack n play seemed to be out of the question. I couldn't let him cry for a minute and settle down because it was 2:30 am, so I propped myself up as comfortably as possible in bed and he slept on my chest. This lasted for about 30 minutes or so and then he started trying to fling himself off me. I let him roll onto the bed (onto my outstretched arm) where he looked so comfortable and was sleeping soundly. Ummmm....not so sure about letting a baby sleep in the bed (with me no less, I've heard horror stories about people who let their children sleep in the bed with them and tragic accidents occur so I've never let him in the bed with me at all) but he was asleep and exhaustion took over and I let him stay. I moved all the pillows off the bed and kicked off the covers (not so comfortable for me - the life of a mom, huh?!) He was laying on my outstretched arm so I could feel if he made a move to roll towards the side of the bed and we stayed like this until about 4:30 until I was so uncomfortable I just couldn't take it anymore and I scooped him up to lay him back down in his pack n play.

He woke up the second I layed him down, and when he woke up I guess he thought it was morning because all he wanted to do was play. I fed him and he went back to sleep (on me in the bed again - he was over the pack n play at this point) around 5:30. When Carolyn woke up at 7 she found Ethan in bed with me and I have to say, as worried as I was (and as little sleep as I ended up getting) it was pretty cute. I'm so relieved that Carolyn slept through most of the nightly chaos (she heard him at 4:30 when his genious mother woke up a sleeping baby) but that was it. We got ready for chuch and picked up my aunt and we were off again. Ethan did okay in church (sometimes he's great, and other times we have to make a hasty exit.) His shining moment was when we all bowed our heads for a moment of quiet reflection - Ethan chose that moment to LOUDLY babble in his baby voice. I think I turned bright red! He was occupied for the most part with Aunt Carolyn's purse of fun. He loves her purse - and all the lotion bottles she keeps in it. It was funny!

By the time we were ready to hit the road that afternoon, Ethan was exhausted and he slept the ENTIRE trip home. Yes, he slept for three hours straight. It's a good thing too, because when we got home Ethan's girlfriend was in town and he had a great time playing with her. The funniest part was when they each had their pacifiers and they wanted each other's. We all went out to dinner and Ethan and Faith ate their little crunchies and puffs together...they are so cute and sweet together!

I'll have pictures and videos to post soon!