What we did this week:

1. Finally put away Christmas decorations.
2. Lots of eating and trying a couple new foods.
3. 3 Nebulizer treatments every day.
4. Playing and cutting teeth (do you see the two on the bottom? I think more are on the way). Grandma Boswell sent this water mat and Oliver had quite the time trying to figure out why he couldn't get the sponges in his mouth.
5. You can't really see what's going on here, but Paul made/installed a sprayer that attaches to the toilet to spray off the diapers. It is essential to cloth diapering!

Something else please? These make me sick!

By request, here is the video of O eating green beans. (I thought they were peas because when I made up a bunch of baby food I didn't label them.) I would like to happily announce that he now eats them without all the drama! I wouldn't say he likes them, but they go down just fine:).

Applesauce

I was feeding little O applesauce this morning and trying to describe his reaction to mom on the phone. A video will do a much better job!

From this video you may think that he doesn't like the applesauce, but I guarantee you he is a lot more clear about what he doesn't like. Peas, for example, elicit a gagging response and he just holds his mouth open begging "Mom and Dad please take these yucky things out of my mouth!!" Eventually they just kind-of fall out and dribble down his chin.

The Happy Crouper

Yesterday at about noon Oliver started barking like a seal. It didn't dawn on me that I should be too worried right away, but in the evening his breathing got quite labored. We fortunately have a 24 hour line where we can get in touch with nurses and doctors from our clinic. With a couple tries at the "foggy bathroom" treatment that didn't help his breathing the doctor advised us to take him into the emergency room. Even with that advisement it felt like a tough decision. I wonder if once you have two or three kids this decision becomes run-of-the-mill? He only got about an hour and a half of sleep total before 3:30am when he fell asleep in the hospital, but was really pleasant. This morning the lack of sleep caught up with him and I had one cranky baby! We've been taking it easy and feeling bad that Paul has to use his tired brain to debug software today.
Oliver liked chewing on the nebulizer they used for his breathing treatment, so the nurse let him keep it. After the breathing treatment they gave him an oral steroid that helps decrease the swelling in the airways. Today he sounds much better and is able to sleep without waking himself up.

Happy 6 Months!

Today Oliver turned 6 months. At his check-up he was 19 lbs. 2 oz (78th percentile) and 26 inches long (59th percentile). The pediatrician is guessing that he is bulking up for a growth spurt. At 6 months he has one tooth on the bottom with another on its way. He is working hard at sitting up and is getting closer to being able to scoot. It is fun to listen to him experiment with consonants and enjoy his more ready giggles. Check out the new slide show on the right side.

Paul was home from work today because he got a really bad stomach virus on Monday night and has been slowly getting better. It is the first time I ever saw Paul stomach virus sick. We were very careful to make sure O and I didn't get it - we're still hoping.

Home for Christmas

I'm adding a slide show to the side of all of our Christmas pictures. I'll have to get more from my parent's camera and Andy and Sarah's camera because they have great ones of Christmas Eve and the cousins.

We had a really good and eventful trip. It started out stressful because when we got to the airport 4 hours early, they did not know if they would have a seat for us. We learned that flying the 23rd is not the best because even if bad weather hits the day before, there are a ton of people trying to get home for Christmas. We got on the plane 20 minutes before departure and breathed a sigh of relief. They informed us that the plane was 20 people overbooked. Whew!

Paul stayed for 5 days and we fit in 4 Christmases, three different houses, lots of driving in the Fredman van, a 24 hr. flu and the start of three colds :). It was really fun to see family and especially to share Oliver with everyone. Last Christmas when we were expecting him there was so much hope and anticipation. This year we got to enjoy him and watch everyone else enjoy him.

I stayed for 5 more days and enjoyed relaxing and recouping in Pillager, seeing my college friends for a baby shower, shopping, going to a movie, spending time with Peter, Amy, Dad and Mom, and sleeping in. When I flew out again I was looking forward to the time at the airport and flying with Oliver because I hardly got to see him for those 5 days! Mom and Amy took care of all the diaper changes, baths and oatmeal feedings and Dad took care of the early mornings! (I had good intentions of waking up but Dad always beat me to it.)

The trip back went really well. It helps that I have done it by myself three times now, and that I now have the right equipment (Dad and Mom gave me luggage for Christmas). Also, people in the airport are so helpful. Oliver flies really well and when there are people to look at he is happy even if he's tired. We sat next to lady from TN on our way back and Oliver was smitten with her accent. Everything she said made him smile. She said "When I have kids some day, I sure hope they like me as much as he does!"

It was hard to come back here again, but it feels good to get back into our regular routine. On Sunday a sharp little tooth came through and next week is Oliver's 6 months appointment. We'll see how big he is now and how many more teeth are waiting to pop through!

Titus and his workbench

I could watch this video all day. I miss my little nephews so much!!