Dear Blog,
What a silly bunch of craziness in the Baxter household. The weeks leading up to Christmas were relatively uneventful. We were looking forward to some much needed time off. William decided to pull a teething/cold/teething/cold bout that started shortly before Christmas and lasted about a month. During this time his sleep became TERRIBLE. 
I was starting to think we were never going to make any progress. I couldn’t ignore a sick baby in the middle of the night so we were nursing and settling him constantly. I’m sure every parent has been through a fit of this type at some point, but I really thought I was turning him into a horrible sleeper. All of this sleep deprivation led Jason and I to both get sick as well. I got lucky enough to have the stomach flu on Christmas Eve. Christmas day I stayed home to recover and sent Jason and William off to grandma’s house to celebrate, and then managed to fall while peeling wallpaper in the bathroom and dislocate my elbow. I managed to get it reduced (probably said some curse words), and then called one of my coworkers who is a certified athletic trainer (i.e. deals with all types of traumatic sports injuries). Thank goodness he answered his phone on Christmas Day. Our conversation went something like this “Michael, this is Steph.
I think I dislocated my elbow” Michael: “Steph, it’s really hard to dislocate your elbow”. [I tell Michael the story] Michael: “I think you may have dislocated your elbow”. Now I know you’re probably saying “Steph, why on Earth were you peeling wallpaper Christmas Day while recovering from the stomach flu?” The simple answer is I was feeling better and wanted to be productive. My aunt and mother were scheduled to visit and help paint mid-January and I only had 2 days off from work (Christmas Eve and New Years Eve) when William could be at daycare and I could prep some stuff for their visit. In hindsight, I should have stayed on the couch. I am thankful that I didn’t break my neck. I am also thankful that I work at an Orthopedic hospital and know lots of great people. I am thankful Walgreens was open on Christmas day and a friendly manager helped me get my arm in a sling. I had an X Ray at TOSH 12/26, an MRI 12/27, and was fitted for a brace 12/28. I chipped a bone that healed back down without surgery, and stretched the blazes out of every ligament imaginable, but I am able to heat/stretch at work and the hand therapy group is looking after me without billing me. I’ve met a few of my Dr. specialists on a more personal basis than I was intending. At 4 weeks out I am still working on range of motion. They hope to get me back to normal numbers around 6 weeks, but I will be in the arm brace for some activities until about 8 weeks. What an adventure!
Back to Christmas. Jason got the flu two days after Christmas. No puking, but lots of stomach cramps. (All this while I’m getting x-rays and MRIs on my unusable arm). A few days later (Saturday) we were feeling well enough to attend the Roberts family Christmas in Smithfield. I think we managed to pick up another nasty cold that knocked Jason, William, and I down for another 10 days or so.
January 11th I was super excited for my Mom and aunt to visit from WI. It was a trip planned well in advance to get some painting done in our new house. Jason took the baby for most of the weekend and they made themselves scarce so we could get painting done. Problem was, my mom and aunt missed their first flight out of Madison, and ended up arriving after midnight.
We were also ALL sick. IF it were a 10 day cold I was on day 7, my mom was on day 5 and my aunt was on day 2. My poor aunt painted my house while wearing two sweatshirts and was still freezing half to death She lost her voice almost completely. My mom’s voice was returning, Jason’s came and went, and mine was on the mend, but we all (including Jason and the baby) took turns coughing all night. My dad lovingly referred to us as “the cadaver crew”. In summary, family is amazing. We got the kitchen, bathroom, and guestroom painted despite being sick. There was minimal complaining even though we were working out butts off. We were thankful for William’s bedtime routine, which gave us a relatively early stop-time each evening. Next time they visit I am letting them sip drinks on the patio!
The “new” house is really coming around. The entire main floor has been repainted with the exception of a mudroom, some ceilings, and some trim work. We have new hardward ordered for the kitchen cabinets so sometime in the next month that project will be finished. I love the new carpet we had picked out, and the refinished wood floors (though a bit creaky in places) are amazing! We actually hosted our first mini-event in the form of immediate Baxter family Christmas. There was a gift exchange and we raced the two smallest babies–Mika and Will who are 3 weeks apart in age. William won handily at both the eating competition and the crawling race.
Speaking of William, he just turned 10 months last week. He is now a proficient crawler, and is pulling up and walking along most furniture. He will momentarily stand and play unassisted, but no walking yet. I am amazed that he isn’t walking, since he went from crawling to pulling up so quickly. He has had a terrible string of colds and teething, but is now the owner of 8 teeth (4 top and 4 bottom). 
He likes to put objects into things. Balls into his toy truck, plastic shapes into a little toy house, a rubber duck into his snack container, and toys into his dresser drawers. He now LOVES books. Sometimes he will sit on your lap and happily turn the pages, and sometimes he just wants to hand them all to you one at a time (he really loves to hand you things). He definitely says Daddy (Daa-dee), and bottle (Bah-bah). For awhile he was saying Kitty (Ki-Tee) but it has gone out of fashion lately. He is working on saying Ball and Blue. He isn’t very good at mama yet. I am being patient.
He loves to entertain via Skype. We talk to Grandma Laura and Grandpa Bruce almost every day. I think it really helped him recognize Grandma Laura when she visited. He likes to wave and dance for them…whenever he hears the computer connecting he crawls right over to see who is about to come visit. He’s still a happy baby who flirts with everyone and really isn’t afraid of strangers. He will be celebrating his one-year birthday in just a few short months. Amazing!
I am celebrating my “several more than one year” birthday today. It was a fairly normal day, with the exception of some desk decorations at work, and flowers and a bottle of wine waiting for me when I got home. I have it pretty good. Tomorrow we are going to have dinner and a movie date while Jason’s sister watches William for a few hours. William will have fun playing with his cousins while they are still in town. They will be moving to California in a few weeks but hopefully can still visit sometimes.
I think this is the summation of a couple crazy months: cold/flu/teething/Christmas/New Years/painting/elbow dislocation/birthday. I apologize to all those I’ve been intending to call, write, or otherwise catch up with. William has been sleeping better, my arm is on the mend, and perhaps in the next few weeks I’ll make some headway. Or life will throw us another curve ball. Stay tuned!
