Strange Boy....

Okay, so Joel and I have been home together since last Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon Christy called me to tell me that Joel had lots of boogies, was fussy and just not his usual self. I left work to pick him up and Mr. Soup got on the phone to his pediatrician. The next morning, I planned to go to work and Murad was going to work from home and take Joel to the doctor, but guess what....I was sick too! Joel went to the doctor and she confirmed that he has a double ear infection and Bronchiolitis (think another form of Bronchitis). I am pretty sure I have the flu, but I haven't been to the doctor. So, Joely and I have been home the past few days. I missed going to a surprise party for my friend, but there will be other parties. While I hate being sick and hate seeing him sick, it has been wonderful spending uninterrupted QT together. I love cuddling and playing with him. He's still all about playing even when sick. It's also given me the opportunity to see all of his strange habits. They're quite funny, scary, and unique! Nipple Confusion All through my pregnancy, everyone kept saying don't introduce a bottle to him for a long time because of nipple confusion. Of course, my son is the one who ended up with jaundice and had to take formula from a bottle for a week. Did it mess him up? No. Now he hates taking bottles. Well, he'll take bottles from Murad, Christy, Abuela, grandparents, anyone but me! Even though the bottle may be filled with breast milk or a breast milk/formula combo, he gets this weird look on his face. "Don't come with this weak shit, mom! I want it from the spout." Yeah, so I have the opposite problem of nipple confusion. I wonder what will happen in May when I have to wean him off... No Pacifier Joely used a pacifier when he was a newborn, but once he hit about three months he refused to take one. At first we thought maybe he wouldn't take it at home, but Abuela and Christy both noted that he refuses to take one at daycare. Not complaining because I hear weaning a kid off of a pacifier is a bitch. There are some days when I wish he would take one though! Cheap Toys So, last week Joely and I went to Babies R Us to pick out some developmentally appropriate toys. Yeah, so does he play with them? Not so much. His favorite toy is this block thing that my friend gave us. He'll play with it for about 30 minutes...which is like hours in Joel time S&M much? Murad and I discovered that the only way to get Joel to go to sleep is to put a blanket over his head. That sounds horrible, right? What kind of parents would do that? Desperate parents like us. Joel likes for us to throw the blanket over his head and then he pulls it down to his chest. He falls asleep with the blanket in his hand. Joel also likes to turn and sleep on his side. So, we have to stand there and wait for him to fall asleep so that we can remove the blanket and place him back on his back. It's pretty intense, but that's our guy! Fortunately, we do have the Angel Care monitor which alerts us if he stops breathing, but that's not a sure thing. I know it's supposed to be hospital quality, but the ones in the hospital are like $2000 not $200. That's my weird little Joel wrapped up in a nutshell. He's such an individual and I love it. Some days I marvel at how much my life has changed in the last five months. Nothing gets me through the day like picturing his smile and nothing motivates me more than his happiness. I find myself longing for the sleepless nights when he was a newborn. I find myself trying to relive the best day of my life: his birth. I find myself getting jealous of the fact that he is comfortable with people other than me. I try to keep it in perspective though. The grass is always greener, right? I have a healthy baby boy who is growing, thriving, and exploring! He's picked up a few strange habits along the way, but they're what makes him our son!