My son.
At 2pm, my whole house is asleep. The main overhead lights haven't been on all day. A major cold has Cherry knocked out since last night, and baby to a lesser degree. At least Xavier's been a pretty happy child all told, and hasn't been too bothered by the clogged sinuses and periodically runny nose. He has such a great disposition.
I took him to Church to teach Cherry's lesson in Gospel Principles on the Sacrament, and as predicted Mercy helped watch him while I led the class and he happily sat and played with her. What a blessing. With Cherry out of commission and sleeping on the couch, I had Xavier solo last night and was really proud that I was able to rather quickly get him back to sleep the two times he woke up, even once when he had some pretty serious screaming for a minute. (It's somewhat a testament to the NyQuil that Cherry didn't seem to have bothered by it at all.)
Aside from a brief nursing session before I left for Sunday School, Xavier's been all mine since we got back from Baltimore last night. In addition to night parenting, we played this morning, I got him dressed, I fed him, I put him down for a nap and slept with him for a while. When he wakes up, I think we'll head down to the park so Cherry can have some more peace and rest. Xavier's not quite walking unsupported yet, but there are still some things that he could safely play with at the park (provided he doesn't get run over by all the other kids...). We live a half block away from it and pass it all the time. It almost seems sad that we haven't been able to use it more yet, but I'm sure starting in the near future we'll become very acquainted.
Experiences such as these certainly help me appreciate just how much Cherry does for our little boy, and by extension, for me. While I'm no stranger to baby duties and taking care of him, the demands of school and work mean that I rarely have more than a few hours at a time when he's solely under my purview. While I'm sad they're sick, I really cherish the time I get with my son. He really means so much to me. His babbles, his smile, his laughter, playing peek-a-boo (any and everywhere), mealtime, playing with him, chasing after him, tasting fresh-picked blackberries for the first time and even watching him discover new ways to mess up the house... there's something (at very least momentarily) thrilling about them all. He is my son.
I took him to Church to teach Cherry's lesson in Gospel Principles on the Sacrament, and as predicted Mercy helped watch him while I led the class and he happily sat and played with her. What a blessing. With Cherry out of commission and sleeping on the couch, I had Xavier solo last night and was really proud that I was able to rather quickly get him back to sleep the two times he woke up, even once when he had some pretty serious screaming for a minute. (It's somewhat a testament to the NyQuil that Cherry didn't seem to have bothered by it at all.)
Aside from a brief nursing session before I left for Sunday School, Xavier's been all mine since we got back from Baltimore last night. In addition to night parenting, we played this morning, I got him dressed, I fed him, I put him down for a nap and slept with him for a while. When he wakes up, I think we'll head down to the park so Cherry can have some more peace and rest. Xavier's not quite walking unsupported yet, but there are still some things that he could safely play with at the park (provided he doesn't get run over by all the other kids...). We live a half block away from it and pass it all the time. It almost seems sad that we haven't been able to use it more yet, but I'm sure starting in the near future we'll become very acquainted.
Experiences such as these certainly help me appreciate just how much Cherry does for our little boy, and by extension, for me. While I'm no stranger to baby duties and taking care of him, the demands of school and work mean that I rarely have more than a few hours at a time when he's solely under my purview. While I'm sad they're sick, I really cherish the time I get with my son. He really means so much to me. His babbles, his smile, his laughter, playing peek-a-boo (any and everywhere), mealtime, playing with him, chasing after him, tasting fresh-picked blackberries for the first time and even watching him discover new ways to mess up the house... there's something (at very least momentarily) thrilling about them all. He is my son.