sickity-doo-dah

Christmas part 1 (with my folks in illinois) has come and gone. it felt like an explosion of wrapping paper and milo squakings and "ooh, ahhh, thank you!"

and then i got the flu christmas night, and a new sense of explosion erupted. it's awful. i hate the flu and it's been years since i've had it... in fact, i haven't had a full-fledged, toilet-bowl hugging, steam-rolled aches & pains flu since college, 6 years ago. i suppose i'm due. and i have to count my blessings, if you're going to be sick anywhere, why not be at mom's? plus being on vacation and in chicago, it's not like i can just go home. so ben and my mom are watching after milo, and i'm in bed, growing restless and worn out at the same time. i have my own bathroom. i know i have to count my blessings and that there are far worse ailments to be burdened with...

so how 'bout we recount the festivities:

milo has loved the new activity course with all it's challenges and obstacles that is my parents' only slightly milo-proofed house. the stairs especially. we only have one gate, so we're able to section of portions of the house, but there are exciting forbidden treasures, nooks and crannies in every room, so we still have to keep a close eye on him no matter what area has been barricaded.

we eventually added bubblewrap to the marble table in they're "foyer" area, which is right above his line of vision, but still within well range of his cranial circumference. he still has a pretty bad goose egg with slight puncture mark from the corner of that one. whoops.

milo got a plethora of weebles, a few puzzles, a jack in the box, a spinning metal top that you pump a lever to make it go, some bigger clothes for the months ahead, and some other blinking/mooing/singing things.

he's enthralled. and we haven't even had Christmas part 2 with ben's parents' yet.

ben and i have decided it's time to do a clean sweep of all his toys - pack away the ones that are still good for future babies, throw out the broken ones, add to the garage-sale pile ones he never really seemed that interested in, and maybe keep out a few of the ones he still plays with.

over the past year, we'd received quite a number of hand-me-down stashes of toys (plus what he received last Christmas and for his birthday). if we don't clear out some of it soon, our house is going to be swallowed up by milo-stuff.

we'll let you know when the garage sale finally happens :P

randoms

• it's been several months (at least?) since i've taken a picture of milo... which is way too long.

• milo likes to squirrel away his "treasures" - the other day i found ben's flip-flops, a sippy cup, a few books, some of his magnetic letters, and a wooden spoon in our front loading washer. when his pack n play is open, he loves to help me "clean" by picking up whatever's strewn about (toys, the paper, the lint roller, more sippy cups, the remotes, etc) and dropping it in the giant cage. he's also recently hidden my nail polish; it's been several days and i still have no idea where he's put it.

• milo had his first major fever (at it's highest 104 - our pediatrician said he doesn't really start to get worried till 105 or 106). we could tell he was sick when he cuddled with ben for several hours on a saturday morning - this boy normally has too much to do to ever want to cuddle for more than a minute, with the exception of his "i just woke up, but i'm not really awake yet" morning/post-nap routine. even then, 20 minutes later and he's ready to hit the road.

• we had to barricade the tree from milo. so after a little rearranging, the tree is now in the corner of our living room, behind the couch. it's only decorated from the bottom half up.

• still in the land of fallen chairs, i had to put our nativity scene on the dining room table - it was the only other prominent safe-spot in our home out of his reach... i dream that some day we'll have fun setting it up together when milo isn't more interested in chewing off the turban of wise man #3.

the good, the bad and the ugly:

the good: milo is not allergic to nuts. on several occasions i've let him have a little of the scandinavian almond cake i make which uses real almond extract. the other day i let him have a sip of my morning peanut butter smoothie (one sip was not enough). and just now he got to try a butter shortbread cookie i baked earlier today that was topped with ground sugar and pecans.

the bad: he has started to assert his defiance. he gets whiney and cranky simply because i'm doing something other than holding him (like getting lunch ready for him so he can eat).

the ugly: in this new attitude-spurt he's entered, milo will often drop food onto the floor while sitting in his high chair. we consistently respond by grasping his hand and very firmly telling him, "no milo, we don't drop our food on the floor!" he will then proceed to grab another handful, look at us to make sure we're looking, and a devious little smile takes over his face as he extends his hand past the high chair tray and he drops the food on the floor once again.