Wednesday, December 11, 2013

35 and 36 Weeks

Arlo is 36 weeks and 2 days old, and I need to get caught up around here. A lot has happened these last two weeks.
 
 
First and foremost, like I've said, my mother-in-law had a bad stroke on Thanksgiving, which has changed our lives immensely. She's still paralyzed on the left, but she's more or less "with it" mentally, which is a miracle in itself. The day after Thanksgiving, Danny and I hugged each other in the parking lot of the hospital, bawling hysterically because we were terrified she was wasn't going to live.
 
She'll be in a rehabilitation facility for at least a few more weeks, and we don't know where we'll proceed from there yet. It all depends on how much she improves. I should mention that she's an only child, Danny's dad died years ago, and Danny's an only child—so we're all she has. This means we probably won't be trying to make a baby brother or sister for Arlo any time soon.
 
How about a picture to break up a giant wall of text?
 
This whole nightmare has reminded us how lucky we are to have so many wonderful friends in our lives. My mother-in-law's neighbors cooked us the turkey she had in her fridge so it wouldn't go to waste. A dozen people dropped off dinner for us or watched Arlo while Danny and I went to the hospital or to work. I keep catching myself wondering what kind of terrible shit Danny and I must've done in our past lives to deserve catastrophe after catastrophe after catastrophe in this life, but our friends are proof that we must've done something so, so right, too.
 
Anyway, we hired a nanny, and she'll be starting this Friday. Arlo hasn't seen his Grammy in two weeks, and his little world has already been disturbed so much that Danny and I couldn't bear the thought of sending him to daycare yet. The nanny obviously costs more than daycare would have, but we'll feel better knowing he's in his own house, with his own toys and dog, receiving the one-on-one attention that he's used to. Eventually, we'll probably transition him to daycare, but we wanted to avoid too much change for him at once.       
 
Now, let's let some photos do the talking. My 30th birthday was five days after my mother-in-law's stroke, and our hearts were still heavy (they still are), but we did our best to celebrate.

Oh, that's what a person looks like after crying non-stop and not sleeping for 5 days.

We kept Arlo up to celebrate. He's was tired.

Arlo tried to eat my presents.
 
Let's see... Arlo had his first mini-cold, as well as his first boo-boo—courtesy of Scooter (but it was actually Danny's fault).
 
I kept trying to hide the boo-boo in pictures, but in retrospect, I wish I had a better photo of it. His left eye was a little bruised and scratched. (You can see it better in the candle-blowing photo above.)

He's still sprouting teeth like it's his job, and I don't even know what's going on in his mouth right now. I do know that he's always chewing on something, and he's already destroyed his crib rails.
 
 
Speaking of the crib, Danny and I are feeling confident enough that the reflux is gone that we ditched the bouncy seat, and Arlo is finally sleeping in his crib now, instead of in his bouncy seat in his crib. He wasn't too thrilled the first couple of nights, which made me wonder if his reflux was acting up, but his sleep is improving, so I guess he just didn't know what to do with all that space at first. Unfortunately, he enjoys sleeping flat on his face, which is unsettling, to say the least.
 
He's getting tired of crawling, so he's been "walking" with his hands and feet on the floor (you know, with his butt up in the air), and I can't even handle how hilarious it is. He's also mastered doing this to things:
 
 
Loves his Roomba.
 
He's become a pro at using his thumb and forefinger to guide food into his mouth, and he really loves that he can feed himself his own snacks. Danny and I love it, too, because it keeps him occupied while we eat. Needless to say, Scooter loves it, too—for other reasons. 
 

Lastly, we visited Santa, and my little elf couldn't have been more cooperative (which really wasn't a huge surprise).

 
Oh, and here's my favorite recent photo of Arlo:


Can't even tell you how much that smile does for me.

3 comments:

Emmett Katherine said...

I'm so sorry about Danny's mom, this is obviously such a hard time for you guys. I hope her path to healing goes smoothly and am glad to hear you have amazing friends who are there for you.

Arlo is as cute as ever!

and welcome to the 30s club. happy birthday!

Nicole said...

All your pictures are great the last one is my favorite so far!

Ironically, I injured braeden under his last eye - a deep scratch and bruise on thanksgiving night. Stupid dry/cracked fingers and distracted momma reaching down towards him. Big ole gouge. Small but still the scar is still fading. Stupid scab falling off at daycare to early.

Anywho thinking of you and your mother in law. I know how hard it is to be the caregiver (I see it daily at work in the eyes of my petient's family members , I also see the tears of joy - with my own- when people make amazing gains after a stroke.) keep me updated .

Katy G. said...

I love seeing new pics of Arlo! The Santa one is great. I hope all is well & you had a great Christmas!