Weather.... or not

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope you all had wonderful holidays! Sorry for my long absence, but we've hit that point in newborn-dom where we (and by "we" I mean the baby) are awake A LOT more often. And, unfortunately just like my first, my second likes to be held (and comforted) almost all the time. (And by "all the time" I mean when he's awake AND when he's asleep!) Some of you might understand this. Other's of you who have those delightful little bundles of joy that just like to lie in the bouncy seat and coo cutely until they drift off quietly to sleep will not understand my particular predicament. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't love, love, LOVE him to death. But, let's just say that in the last week or so I've been lucky if I've had two hands available to type with (or to eat with or to fold laundry with) for a continuous 10 minute stretch.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that our latest edition is wrestling with an extreme gas situation. At first his gas was only just amusing as we enjoyed his five octave, Mariah Carey challenging, range. But as his discomfort grew, things became a little less amusing and a little more harried around here. But now we seem to have gotten it a little more under control and peace (and a little more calm) has come to our neck of the woods. So... I'm back! (for now.)

As I mentioned both my boys are/were big into being comforted as babies. But as I reflect back on Dashell's first six weeks, I realize that the two of them are actually very different (just as it should be) all the way down to the fact that they were born on exactly (almost to the day) opposite sides of the year. Dashell was a born at the end of May and our latest was born at the end November. And, as we spent the holidays out here in California for the first time in years (usually we're off visiting the family in other parts of the country) I realized that the weather this time of year is very unpredictable. In May, it is usually cloudy and sometimes cold, but almost never rainy. So, I've haven't had to worry yet about hosting an indoor birthday party at my house. But, it began to come clearly into focus as we experienced day after day of driving rain during this holiday season, that I'm might have to have an indoor backup plan for our new son's first birthday party next year! And I longed for the finished basements of my childhood. A childhood spent on the East Coast and the Mid-West. Unfortunately out here in California, basements are an extreme rarity.

So unlike Dashell's virtual coronation (it was a triple birthday party with 3 babies and about 100 people), I think I will have to scale down a little for this one. But, I also want to be careful that he doesn't look back at the pictures and feel that he got slighted. Especially since his birthday is right on top of Thanksgiving! Having a birthday close to Christmas, myself, (actually today is my birthday, yikes!) I know that sometimes it gets a little less consideration than birthdays that don't fall as close to a holiday. So I really need to make sure that he doesn't think he got the dreaded second child treatment! Consequently, I'm going to have think hard over the next year about how to make his first birthday party feel very special, yet be on a much (much) smaller scale. Hmmm... I believe it's time to break out that thinking cap!