Thanksgiving

So our trip to Michigan was a success! Sam slept a lot for both car trips, and had limited crying fits. The things is his cries now are WAY bigger than they used to be, but we're getting accustomed to the new big voice.

We had a chance to tour the baby around and see a lot of family who I hadn't seen in a long time, so that was nice. (FYI to you Erlewines out there -- we are talking of a family reunion next summer. Consult your schedules and hopefully we can come up with something. Rumor has it it will be in Big Rapids?) Sam also had what might have been his biggest crying fit ever during our second night in Big Rapids, and he woke up every two hours at least, crying. I just nursed him basically whenever he awoke because I didn't see the point in trying to "sleep train" while in a strange place after having messed with his regular sleep schedule (including naps). By our last night there he was sleeping MUCH better. So far tonight he has gone to bed early and is sleeping well in his own bed, so that's good. I, like Sam, am exhausted from our journey and will be going to bed really early tonight too.

A few discoveries on our trip:

• Nursing in the car was not nearly as difficult or awkward as I had feared!

• Sam might be ready to start solids! I told myself that I would watch his cues instead of picking an arbitrary age for when to start the foray into more-than-milk. One HILARIOUS moment was when Sam was in his papa's arms and I was sitting next to them eating a piece of pumpkin pie. Sam was ENTRANCED with that pie, reaching out for it and carefully studying each bite moving from my plate to my mouth, complete with mock chewing. It was so cute! He did it again later when his dad was eating a KitKat (Sam knows the good stuff) and when I was eating some broccoli too. I'm guessing this big boy of mine will be a good eater.
  
  
• Thanks for all of your comments on the vitamin/baby poo topic. I decided to take a break from the Tri Vi Sol w/iron for a bit and see how that changed things. Things remained pretty fluid for the next day or two, but changed color and odor, and today the stool seems to be back to how it was pre Tri Vi Sol w/ iron, so I think it is indeed the iron doing it (and it did also cause some diaper rash, but nothing that seemed to bother Sam much -- what do you Mom's like for diaper rash? The Burts Bees cream seems pretty good, I got some vasaline but that doesn't seem to help much...I hated the storebrand Desitin I tried...). I might get the Tri Vi Sol without iron, that way he can still get the extra AD&E...what do you think? (I'll ask the doc too).
  

So what am I thankful for this year? Though I continually find things to complain about, and I certainly could fill another blog about the struggles my family and I are currently facing, it is good for me to take a moment to look at the positive. Though it probably goes without saying, I am so wholly and completely thankful for the birth of my amazing son Samuel. He is far more than I could ever have imagined and puts everything else in my life into perspective. I am thankful for my supportive, loving, talented husband, and I am thankful that he has returned to school and gets to spend time doing his art again. I am thankful that out of all the places in the world my sister Meg could have moved to, she chose to move right next door to me to share her life with her nephew. I am thankful to all of you who read this haphazard blog full of mundane thoughts composed of run-on sentences, grammatical errors, and whatever else happens when I spout off a bunch of ramblings during my free moments. It means so much to have a little network of moms out there who can give me encouragement and support when I'm feeling unsure, and it's really cool to feel reunited with my cousins through the birth of this next generation. There is a lot more that I am thankful for, but I think I'll call it a night.