Shrieks and smooches

Until recently Ryan was what the baby books called a self-soother at bedtime. We would place him in his crib and leave the rest to him. But now unless he’s too tired to protest it’s a different story. When we put him down for the night, he wails like a banshee when he sees us leave the room. At first we tried to let the baby cry it out on his own, but after more than a week of toe-curling protests we’ve learned to stroke his hair for a few minutes. That usually does the trick.

But to counteract his bedtime fits, Ryan’s begun giving kisses. When Gina comes home he opens his mouth and leans against her cheek. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do after that, but it’s adorable. So far I’ve only gotten one smooch.

Maybe he’ll trade them for head massages.

Tuckered out

Ryan’s still recovering from all the excitement of the holidays.

Baby’s first Christmas

The Moose family is kicking back after a hectic but magical holiday. I started Christmas Eve with a run to Target to buy Ryan a Christmas sweater. He overheated at grandma and grandpa’s house, but was a super-cute little man:

There was a lot of love around the Christmas Eve dinner table, with Grandma and Uncle Frank, Mom and Dad, seven siblings, six spouses and 15 grand kids! Ryan was the newest arrival, but not for long! My baby sister Suzie and her husband Randy, who sadly lost their first baby earlier this year, announced that they’re ten weeks pregnant! What a wonderful Christmas present.

Congratulations, Randy and Sue!

We should have known it was going to be a magical night when we managed to take a family photo after many unsuccessful attempts:

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve at Nana’s with Gina’s family. Then it was time for the big event: Ryan’s first Christmas morning! He was surrounded by presents that were almost as big as him. And though he was too young to understand what Christmas was about, Ryan was an utter delight. He smiled and squealed like never before as we helped him open his gifts:

Ryan got the Little People farm and airport and musical bongos from us. Our families gave him clothes, boots, books, toys and the Little People nativity set. He didn’t know what to play with first.

Gina got more charms for her Pandora bracelet and gift cards from me and Ryan. I got a video game, shirts and a pair of jeans. But by far our biggest gift was our beautiful baby boy. As always, he was a bundle of joy and a blessing from above.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Christmas blessings

The shopping’s done, the presents are wrapped. It’s time to sit back and enjoy. Especially this little guy.

Weight loss for the holidays

The idea was that I was going to start eating better after my birthday. The problem is that my birthday is right before the Christmas season, and the team snack table is directly behind my desk at work. How am I supposed to behave myself when I can get my mitts on cookies and candy without having to get up? That’s a bunch of poppycock. Which, by the way, is delicious.

The challenge of dieting during the holidays reminds me of a story. I used to work with some middle-aged woman who answered the front-line phones. Most of them ponied up 50 bucks to join an on-site weight loss program. They figured there was strength in numbers. The problem was the timing. The eight-week program ran through Thanksgiving and the height of the Christmas season, and the front line was besieged by sweets from clients and coworkers.

At the end of the program, I overheard two of the telemarketers talking about it. Elaine and Trish were bemoaning the fact that the holidays made losing weight difficult. Elaine asked Tricia, “so how much did you lose?”

Tricia said, “about fifty bucks.”

A rough Christmas for Faith

My brother Andy loves to text. He had a surprise for us today. His 10-year-old daughter Faith had to have her appendix out. She was in pain over the weekend, and after some blood work the doctors said the appendix was infected. Our poor, brave niece started her Christmas break by having surgery. Andy said she’s doing fine, though she’s in a lot of pain. Thankfully she’ll be home for Christmas.

We love you, Faith! We’re praying for you and hope you feel better soon!

The night I was trapped at Nana’s

Our friends the Roots have a party every year the weekend before Christmas. The first year we went, Gina and I were dating. She was living with her mom. The drive to Nana’s is half an hour of barren rural roads, with two stoplights to spice things up. It’s not a snowplow priority. And the flakes were already coming down as I went to pick Gina up.

Once you’re five minutes out of Gina’s hometown, everything’s dark at night. There’s no streetlights and little traffic. The snow was drifting already. We were starting down the long country stretch when three deer leapt out in front of us. They were all in a row and they looked like ghosts as they appeared out of the snow. I didn’t have time to think, but somehow we didn’t hit any of them. Gina and I are convinced it was our guardian angel at work.

Once we stopped hyperventilating we continued onto the party, where we both got to sit on Santa’s lap. We should have asked him for a ride home. We came back to my house, but seeing the weather we decided to head back early.

By then the snow was a blizzard and the back roads were impassable. I turned around shortly after the point where I couldn’t see a thing.

“You’re going to have to spend the night tonight,” I said. Gina wasn’t for it. Apparently her mother comes from the school of thought where it’s more appropriate for a woman to succumb to frostbite than to spend the night at her boyfriend’s. So after some debate we were back on the road, this time on an alternate route.

The other way to Nana’s takes you down two well-traveled roads but involves a lot of backtracking. It took three hours to get there from the time we started from home. This was one of the weekends Nana had six people over to sleep: Gina’s brother Jim and five of the kids. Gina’s sister Sue and nephew Chris were also sleeping over, so between all of the company there was no room in the inn. So Gina volunteered to sleep on the floor and let me have her bed.

I knew that her nieces, Angie and Amy, always crawled into bed with Gina in the middle of the night. As Gina tucked me into her bed while everyone else was asleep, I envisioned a nightmare scenario: Amy and Angie would come to snuggle thinking that I was their aunt, and when they realized it was me they would wake up the whole house. I was more afraid of two six-year-old girls than I was of the blizzard outside.

Gina did her best to calm my nerves, than went to sleep in the living room. I lay in bed and tried my best. Then the snoring began. It was Jim, and the only relief I got was when the furnace kicked in. It was just loud enough to drown him out. I tried falling asleep to the blower. I managed a nap and got up around 6:00, determined to head home. Quiet as a mouse, I crept through the hallway and into the living room. Gina was asleep on the floor. And standing in her nightgown was Nana.

“I see we had another guest last night,” she said without batting an eye. I told her of our epic adventure and that it was time to go home, then kissed Gina’s forehead after figuring out which silhouette was hers.

By then the plows had found their way to the lowly back roads to Nana’s. I made my way home and crawled into bed in peaceful solitude.

Gina still laughs when she thinks of me with her sheets up to my neck, gripping the edges as tightly as I held the steering wheel.

Germs 2, Moose boys 0

Ryan has his third ear infection and I’ve got another cold. Maybe we can share his antibiotics. I don’t know if I’m sick from missing sleep or daycare’s germ smorgasbord, but I’ve got another week to recover before it’s Christmas Eve. How did that happen so fast?

At least Ryan is feeling better. He’s chasing his mommy around. He likes to make himself useful lately by rearranging things. The stuff that was on our coffee table is tastefully strewn on the floor, and he’s figured out how to open the drawers we took the handles off of.

Even a nasty ear infection can’t keep a good man down.

Upwardly mobile

Ryan’s decided that crawling’s passé. He’s spending most of his time standing up. He holds himself up on the coffee table or scoots along the couch. At first his landings ended with a flip and a blow to the noggin, but now he’s learning to gently fall backward and land on his well-cushioned butt.

Most babies I’ve seen have wobbly legs when they first learn to stand, but Ryan’s are solid as tree trunks. He’s also applying his new-found skills to another frontier: his crib. I got up at 5:00 this morning when I heard him cry for his bink, and there he was with his eyes wide open, kneeling upright in his sleep sack. He was rattling the bars like, “I’m busting loose!”  Thank goodness for legless pajamas.

In other milestone news, Ryan has graduated from his trusty whale tub to the adult version. At first he was overwhelmed by all the space, but now he loves roaming around. I’ve been promoted to head bath giver to give Gina’s back a break. Now I’m hoping to not throw mine.

As for the whale tub, it’s in our garage awaiting the recyling bin. Sorry about that, Mr. Whale. You just weren’t big enough.

That’s Doctor Jenny to you

Congratulations to my sister Jenny, who passed her final medical boards! I knew you could do it! Now I can keep those consultation calls coming. . .