A rare day at home

Yesterday my son’s daycare was closed so I got to spend the whole day with him! We had a VERY eventful day which I will now tell you all about. I got soooo much done and Quint had a milestone himself!

First I let small fry sleep as late as he wanted and he woke up on his own terms. This makes for a happy baby and a Mom that is fully showered, dressed, and ready to meet the day. We went to the doctor where he got shot, which he was not in favor of, but then I nursed him right after which made it some better.

Then we went to my work where I hosted a Quint party. Monday, I sent out a meeting request to half the company letting them know that we’d be there at 10:30 Tuesday and come on by to admire my cute son. It was really fun! He performed admirably and was incredibly cute, sweet, and happy for the 15-20 women who squealed over him.

Then we went to Hubby’s work to show him off there! Again, he was a big hit, cute and sweet. Due to his need for lunch (he did get some plain cereal) and a pressing need for a nap, he was not quite as happy. But he was only a tiny bit fussy and handled meeting 85 more people really very, very well. It was incredibly sweet how his daddy would call out to people down the hall, “Come meet my son!” The pride in his voice made my heart swell!

We got some fast food for lunch and sweet boy conked out in the car almost as soon as I strapped him in. He awoke soon after we got home, though, which was a surprise. I thought he might sleep for an hour or more. For the next 3 hours, he played and chewed and played and chewed and drooled and was quite happy as long as I gave him a change of venue every 30-45 minutes. Lots of laughing and smiles.

During the whole day, I got the following done: (drumroll please) I made our bed, neatened the floor of our bedroom, put all the junk away that usually lives on our bathroom counter, hit the tub with soft scrub several times, washed the baby clothes that had been soaking in oxiclean, opened several windows, emptied the dishwasher, loaded the dishwasher, swept the hardwoods twice, mopped, put two layers of wax on the hardwoods, boxed up some stuff for my mother-in-law, froze some baby food, scrubbed all the carrots off the highchair, excavated the huge pile of blankets and pillows to find the bagpipes, sword, and bludgeon baton below, figured out a way to hang the sword and baton on a hanger, stored the bagpipes elsewhere, took pictures of tables to be sold on craigslist, fed Quint cheerios and 2 crackers and cleaned up the aftermath of that, stacked all the living room blankets and pillows neatly, and took Quint’s kilt, sporran, and christening outfit upstairs.

At 3pm, the tide turned on my laughing smiling baby….

He became an absolute fusspot, only napped a little, and was only consolable when he was in my arms, walking and whimpering. Was it prophetic that I put his "Little Crabby" shirt on him today? Hmmm… Tylenol time. And time to strap him to my chest where he alternately whimpered, drooled down my cleavage, and chewed on the baby harness while I continued to clean and neaten. At 7pm, I texted my sweet hubby asking him to come home from the “boy’s club” for moral support with the fusspot.

Just before Papa got home, things got better for the fusspot. He had been chewing on a much loved boardbook for a lot of the afternoon. I was playing with him on my lap when suddenly, I saw it! The tiny break in the skin of his gums revealing the top of a tiny tooth. A HA! That at least accounts for half the fussiness. The other half could be the three shots he received that morning.

So my little guy has his first tooth!!

Hubby asked if I enjoyed my day as a stay-at-home mom. I stared at the ceiling thinking… Well, perhaps the day he cut his first tooth is a bad day to try to analyze that. Next Tuesday, daycare is closed again so perhaps that day will be a better sample day. I am REALLY glad that we (Quint and I) got so many good hours together before he turned into a fusspot. That balanced the day out. If I had dealt with 2 hours of fusspot after a full day at work, I would not have taken it in stride as well.

I have a new strategy on the battle against clutter and preparation for a mobile masticating (look it up) baby: Each day I try to put away one tiny pocked of floor clutter. We have many such pockets around our house and I’m fighting them one by one.

I have realized that we have entered into a new phase in our lives that will last several years. The Cherrios Phase. That wonderful phase in life where you might find a cheerio ANYWHERE!!! Those little suckers will stick to anything and detach later!

Another thing I’ve learned in the last 24 hours… When you feed your baby bubblegum Motrin and then nurse him, you will smell like bubblegum until you shower next.

10+ year journal notes

Here's some more notes that will eventually go in my 10+ year journal.

March 11 Hubby's lap-band surgery
March 11 daffodils start to bloom!
March 21 Quint's baptism
March 19-21 Mother-in-law and step-dad in town
March 19 - so warm we opened the house for a while!
March 21 quick 6 hour trip to the ER for hubby's pain
March 27 I bought some new office clothes that do not look like a mommy and/or have spitup stains on them!
March 27 we rearranged Quint's room so that there is now floor space (novel!) and we don't share a wall with the crib.
March 26 Quint started carrots
March 22nd Quint started spinach - he hates spinach!
March 28 I learned that Hubby doesn't cook home-made burgers... EVER... only because he can't stand sinking his hands down in raw beef. Once I do that, he's all about home-made burgers.
March 28 Quint takes his first swim in the big bathtub. This is different than bathing. He also took his first laundry basket "car ride". The look on his face was hysterical! And it really hurt my pre-bruised knee.
March 15-17 Hubby wasn't home any evening those 3 days.
March 22-26 Hubby was home most evenings this week!
April 25 I saw a peaking upper tooth and an additional peaking lower tooth while he was laughing today. That makes 3 teeth.
April 22 Quint starts fighting sleep at night
April 16 If Q has 2 crackers to naw on while we're eating, life is lots better.
April 14-20 Mom was in town to help out with Q while Hubby was on two trips
April 15-18 Hubby was at a friend's bachelor party on the coast
April 18-20 Hubby was in Miami at a work conference. He really missed us at the end and was sorry he had to stay the last day.
April 23 Grand Lodge District meeting in our town
April 16th Republican Reagan Day Dinner - Mom and I went with Q (without hubby) and we actually had a good time!
April 10-11 Q stayed overnight with a friend while we had a lovely anniversary trip just here in town at a fancy hotel. Very refreshing!
April 8 Hubby had a flat tire.
April 4th Easter Sunday - Q wore his tiny white tuxedo again
April 1st Living Last Supper choral/drama presentation
March 30th Daycare was closed so I stayed home with Q. Sorta. We visited both our places of work to let our co-workers tell us how cute he was.
April 6th Daycare was closed again and I took him up to the senate again so Hubby's boss could see him.
April 25th Q had his first french fry. It was the first time we've tried to go out to eat since he became used to having crackers while we eat in front of him. We didn't have any crackers. Or any food other than breast milk for him. So we gave him a series of fries which he chewed and sucked and then spit out. After the first bite, his eyebrows said "oh yum!!!" and I said to him, "that's called saturated fat, honey." He got quieter.
April 30th - beautiful day. We spend a few hours on the porch with neighbors. I planted a tree on Arbor Day which was coincidence.
May 1st - Republican breakfast with Gov Ramsey. It started raining at 6am.
May 2nd - still raining. Nate and Rupa had to be rescued from their house which had knee deep water in it. Lots of flooding and rescues all around the state.
May 3rd - most businesses, all schools, and some daycares closed due to the flooding. I stayed home with Q and watched the non-stop coverage on our two local channels. Cumberland is expected to crest at 51 feet today. That puts water along 2nd Avenue. The huge tunnel system under downtown is flooded which means that water is bubbling up into basements as far uphill as the Bridgestone Arena where the hockey team plays. Opryland hotel has several feet of water inside. The Grand Ole Opry, the country music hall of fame, and the new symphony center are flooded. Musical instruments were floating in the symphony basement. The organ is ruined.
May 4th, Nate and Rupa are able to get back into their house. The water came up chest high. Their pets are fine. They've lost nearly everything. Their clothes and beds were upstairs, but now the excessive humidity in the house are making the bedding moist. Their cars are total losses. Cell service is severely hampered by a few missing towers and way too many calls jamming the circuits.
May 5th - we haven't heard from Nate and Rupa for days. I'm so frustrated by this that I go out to their flooded house at lunch. Their whole neighborhood was flooded. Street after street of people with their whole lives - ruined - on the lawn. We're there at lunchtime and there are people driving up and down the streets giving away free pizza, sub-sandwiches, and water. I thought I would be less upset after I saw Nate and Rupa, but I was more upset.
May 5th - Since the flood, there have been a lot more bugs in our house. Q got stung by a wasp between the couch cushions! Scared the crap out of me! His plump little arm swelled up about twice the size as usual. We fed him Benadryl and put ice on it. He had emotionally gotten over it long before I had.