Phase "Not-the-Mama"

My brother once said that babies have two parents: the Mama and Not-the-Mama.  He observed this after my sister-in-law went back to work and Nate (my brother) spent weekends home alone with their infant son.  For upwards of 12 hours a day, the child my brother nicknamed "Mr. Screamy" screamed at him for no reason other than that he was Not-the-Mama.  Eventually, Mr. Screamy grew out of this stage.

Elijah has recently discovered that Nathan is Not-the-Mama.  I spend all day everyday cuddling, talking to, singing to, and playing with Elijah.  When Nathan comes home, I pass the baby off for bonding with his father, leave the room to work on dinner and within minutes, the screaming commences.  Thankfully it doesn't last 12 hours.  Nathan is getting pretty good at calming him down by singing, bouncing and walking.  And I'm glad it's happening now, when I'm still at home, instead of in a few weeks, when I'll be at work.

But it still breaks my heart.  Nathan is already such a great dad.  Every phone conversation we have while he is at work begins with "How's the little man?"  When he gets home, first thing he checks on Elijah.  I can't wait until this phase passes.



Yes, that is Elmo's voice.

My Poor Boys

Despite my best efforts, Elijah came down with some form of the same virus Nathan has.  I took Little Man to the doctor last Monday and was told he has bronchiolitis.  I returned the next day because he sounded a little worse, only to be told he was actually better.  We've been coping by keeping him upright as much as possible--have the pack-and-play propped up on books--and humidified.  We made a trip with my dad to walk-in care yesterday because it's been almost a week and he sounds the same.

The doctor there said that's just the way bronchiolitis is.  It hangs around for 7-10 days and the baby sounds a lot worse than he feels.  They did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia, and it was slightly traumatic.  I had to hold him down while they took the images.  Poor little thing screamed so loudly Grandpa, who was sitting out in the waiting room, could hear him. 

Elijah's been coughing and wheezing for a while, but he slept 7 hours last night and actually does sound better today.

As for Nathan, he's been sick since the 8th and is still taking Musinex and Sudafed to get through his days.  I was sick when we were in the other state to pick Elijah up 7 weeks ago (seriously, 7 weeks?!), so I'm hoping that is protecting me now against whatever this is.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 4)

Yes, I'm late with this.  Today will be my baby faces edition.  All week I have been taking pictures of faces Elijah makes.

-one-

He has started smiling, too, but only occasionally.  I haven't gotten a picture of it yet.

-two-

 Pam calls this his "Cheerio mouth" and it cracks her up.

-three-

 I'm pretty sure we can all figure out what he's doing here.

-four-

 Poor sleepy baby!

-five-

Tummy time is no longer completely hated.  He's started napping during it.

-six-

 I think he was talking here. 

-seven-

In other news, Nathan has contracted, what I can only assume is a mild form of plague.  He has been aching and coughing for three days.  And yesterday he celebrated his 31st birthday by staying home and lying on the couch all day.  Elijah and I have been coping by not spending too much time around him and getting out of the house at least once a day to give him time to sleep without being woken up.

For more 7 Quick Takes visit Conversion Diary!