A bit early for the flu?

Really, I thought August was way too early for the flu (or whatever it is we have), but apparently not. Stay far, far away from my house unless you want to catch: pink eyes, sore throat, cough, runny nose, fever, aches all over, general grumpiness, etc etc etc. Oh, and did you know that when your son gets pink eye, you're actually supposed to take him into the doc and obtain antibiotic eye drops (torture devices?)? Silly me! The one time that I don't go running to the doc at the first sign of a runny nose, and there's actually something I can do to treat it? What was I thinking?! Apparently I wasn't, according to 3 different sets of neighbors. I swear when I was a kid we just had to buck it up and deal with it until it ran its course.

In other news, my weight seems to have leveled off at 137...not bad, but I'm still hoping to shave a bit more off. I'm really a very tiny person under all this skin, though I still maintain that I am 5'4". The scale at RFMC is clearly off by a quarter inch.

And with that I shall return to my bed where I can continue to cough up my lungs.

(Above photo taken before we all contracted this recent menace; isn't he a cutie?!).

Happy Midsummer!

I haven't written much thus far this spring, mostly because several things have happened that all contributed to increasing the amount of sleep I'm getting.

1. I found out that 11 month old boys need a WHOLE lot more food than I thought. Apparently maintaining one's percentile and reaching milestones at appropriate times is not, necessarily, an indicator of proper nutrition. In Aidan's case, his attention span is not quite wide enough to fill his belly at each meal, so without several snacks between meals, he was always left starving in the middle of the night. Case in point: Aidan was getting up twice per night to eat, taking 6-8oz of formula at each feeding. Then one day we were busy and, in an effort to keep Aidan entertained, we fed him about a billion Cheerios right before bed. He slept through the night for the first time since he was 4.5 months old! We repeated the Cheerios the following night with exactly the same result. Nighttime sleep issues solved, with nary a tear in the process! Sleep-deprived parents learn quickly. He now sleeps 9-11 hours per night and rarely wakes up.

2. I dispensed with my gall bladder. After a HIDA scan determined it was only working at 15% (30-80% is normal), and finding out that at least half a dozen of my relatives also removed theirs, I decided that it was worth a try. It may or may not solve all my digestive issues, but it certainly won't hurt. Four weeks later: no lost love for the offending organ.

3. Weight loss is coming more easily. I'm sure having surgery helped with this one, as it has kept me honest about what and how much I eat. I'm down 10 pounds, and hoping for 10 more by winter. If I succeed, it will bring me back to a manageable weight of 130-135.

4. The days are longer and the weather is better. I find spring and early summer very uplifting. Late summer is a different story, but I consider it a mere speed bump towards my favourite season of all: autumn.

In other news, Chad got called back into work, which is a huge blessing for us. He may not love his job, but we could definitely use the paycheck. The best part: no more working weekends!

So anyways, that's what's new in a nutshell. Before I sign off, though, I have to add one more VERY important bit of news:

My almost-1 year old boy is WALKING as of 6/20/2009!