Lux's Second Christmas
It's all over now, and we are trying to settle down a bit before things get really crazy with the arrival of brother, but the holiday season was pretty darn good for us. After our manic Thanksgiving trip to California Lux and Susan both came home with a cold, which Paul, for the most part, managed to avoid. Whatever this bug was, it was tenacious, because Lux and Susan were both sick for nearly the entire month of December. Two weeks into it, just when we thought we had turned a corner, snot started pouring out of Lux like water from a faucet and Susan got a sinus infection. Then Susan got pink eye. To make things even more fun, Paul was out of town like he has never been out of town before.Paul went to Tasmania, or more precisely, a small island off of Tasmania, which is itself, an island off of Australia. So while Paul was fooling around (all right, working hard at a radio telescope) at the edges of the earth, or at least the edges of the inhabited earth, Lux and Susan were using up about a box of tissues a day. Thanks to the internet Lux was able to hear her father's voice and even video chat with him. He told us stories of wallabies, echidnas and giant spiders.
Paul returned shortly before Christmas laden with presents from Down Under. Right before he had left we went with Aunt Karen and bought a Christmas tree, and while he was gone Aunt Karen helped us string it with lights and garlands. The ornaments we saved for Christmas eve. Aunt Karen came over Christmas eve, decorated the tree with us and enjoyed a dinner of cheese fondue and a game of 90s Trivial Pursuit. She spent the night and we all together woke the next morning to a ton of gifts and full stockings.
Lux's favorite Christmas things: Our advent calendar that was filled with chocolate Santas. A collection of small decorative nutcrackers. The tree, which she waved to when she came down each morning and before bed each night. A large Santa figure, which she often tried to share her snacks with. Egg nog, but not too much please. Christmas stockings, although she was a little wary of hers at first. Some of her favorite new toys are a xylophone, a small fort and a music set which included a drum and maracas. She also likes her new Leap Pad "computer" but spends a whole lot of time turning it on and off, which is driving her parents crazy. Nana Jane sent Lux a book that she herself had made which contains all of Lux's favorite animals and she has looked at it almost every day since Christmas.
The Wednesday after Christmas we headed for West Virginia so that Paul could do some observing at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank. We thought it would be a nice little road trip, and in most ways it was. Lux is getting pretty good at traveling, though she gets bored with being in her car seat for long stretches, and who could blame her? We realized that our laptops work as great car diversions and when Lux got too antsy we could usually distract her with a slide show of herself (one of her favorite things) or a DVD.
All went quite well until we were about 10 miles from our destination. That was when we began to regret having let Lux eat french fries to her heart's content. In her first car sick episode Lux up chucked not only the contents of her stomach, but also what appeared to be the contents of several other babies' stomachs. Seriously, we would not have believed that one tiny girl could throw up so much. We pulled over, but there was little we could do but clean off the worst of it and then drive as fast as we dared to Green Bank. Poor Lux cried the whole time. Once we arrived Paul ran in to get the keys to our residence room and Susan removed Lux from her sodden seat. The next half hour was spend showering. Susan and Lux. Susan and Dolly. Susan and the car seat. Thankfully, there was a laundry at the residence hall, so we could wash the car seat cover and various other items. It took us far, far too long to figure out how to take the car seat apart, but we managed, and we managed to clean it with every cleanser known to mankind. Lux recovered rather quickly after her shower and we tried to put the whole thing behind us.
The next day, while Paul did his observing, Susan and Lux drove a few miles to the Snowshoe ski resort to watch the skiers. Lux was reticent to brave the mountain roads again, and the car seat still had a distinct, if subtle, aroma, but we survived. Sadly, the fog was so thick at the top of the mountain that the ski lifts weren't even visible. We did get to see some skiers loitering around near the warming hut, but it wasn't exactly the inspiration we had hoped for. The highlight of the trip in Lux's mind was likely the chocolate covered graham cracker she got to eat.
Our trip home was, thankfully, event free. The football game that we had rushed home to see was an unbelievable disappointment. With heavy hearts we removed the Cal flag from the Jeep window to mark the end of Cal's winning streak.
For New Years Eve, Paul and Susan finally had to forgo a big night out. We went to the neighbor's house for a family friendly party and walked home at about 10:30 when Lux started turning into a pumpkin. Paul and Susan watched the New Year in on TV, and were hit with the realization that they didn't know half the people on MTV. In all honesty, the big excitement of the day was the fact that our new shed was built. Two men worked all day on New Year's Eve to put it together, and it looks great. On New Year's Day we rose bright and early, thanks to Lux, and were able to prime the trim. The rest of the shed has already been primed, so we just need for our schedules and the weather to cooperate to allow us to paint it to match the house.
After the painting, we headed out to a friend's New Year's Day party, where Lux played very nicely with the other children there, ate too many chips and gave Uncle Seth a groundbreaking kiss. She also allowed him to hold and carry her, both firsts.
Things that Lux has been doing this month: Sleeping in her big girl bed, although she wakes up more than she did in her crib and usually ends up spending at least an hour or two in Paul and Susan's bed. Drinking milk in a cup only, having abandoned on her own volition both the bottle and formula. Sitting at the table in a real chair, rather than a high chair. She has a special chair that adjusts to be just the right height and she loves it. She loves getting in to it herself and will sometimes do so as a signal that she is ready for a meal. Swimming in the bath tub. Lux lies on her stomach and floats in the tub. Susan reminded her how to "kick, kick, kick" like she did in swim class by taking her foot and kicking it. Then when we said "kick, kick, kick" Lux reached back, grabbed her own foot and splashed it in the bath. After we all had a good laugh at that, she started kicking properly. It reminded us to sign her up for swimming again. She starts next week. Lux loves eating Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), roasted turkey breast, chocolate and nuts. She likes music and asks for it at bedtime and during the day. She likes to pat Susan's belly, then her own, then Paul's if he is there. She thinks Paul might live in the phone, or perhaps the computer, and still loves to run to greet him when he comes home from work. She has fallen in love with her sandbox, though it isn't exactly sandbox weather.
What she isn't doing - talking. There is no doubt that she understands everything we say, but words haven't really come for Lux. She can say yes and no and Dada and duck and Santa and shower and brother, but most of those words are words only we would truly understand. She makes a "meow meow" noise for cat, a growling noise for tigers and lions, a cheep cheep noise for chicks, a moo noise for cows, a baa noise for sheep, a snoring noise which indicates sleep, beds and the CD player her lullabies play on. She also says Mmmm when she eats or drinks something she likes or when she sees a picture of strawberries, watermelon or ice cream. She has sign language for help and more and baby and bottle and cup and football. There are probably more that I am forgetting.
BROTHER UPDATE - With six weeks left until due date all is going well. Susan feels heavy and large, but all measurements show that she is exactly on average. A three hour blood sugar test has shown she does not have gestational diabetes. Baby is head down, which means a bit more pelvic pressure and discomfort, but that is to be expected at this point. We aren't even remotely ready for his arrival, but now that the holidays are over we can make that our focus.
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