I haven’t posted in a very long time. Between the holiday season and everything else going on there just hasn’t been time. But I view it as a good thing because we have been busy living our very best life.

So what have we’ve been up to?

Rewinding back to December, we celebrated Leo’s first Hanukkah and his first Christmas. My husband’s family is Jewish and my family is Christian and although neither of us view ourselves as religious we feel it’s important for Leo to understand the traditions surrounding these holidays. So we recite the blessings and light the menorah at home. Leo loved watching the candles while we ate dinner. We also attended a Hanukkah celebration at our local Jewish community center which just so happens to be down the street from our home. We celebrated Christmas with my parents, which we started doing when we started living together. We made sure to not go overboard with gifts because that’s not what the holidays are about. But Leo did have a lot of fun with the few items he received for Hanukkah and Christmas from his family.

Leo pushing his new wagon.

Playing in the snow on Christmas with my childhood sled.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve at home as a family. January 1st came. On January 2nd the flu entered our home. It took down Leo first. Then it took me down. My husband got a little sick, but was spared of the flu’s vengeance for the most part. After a trip to the ER and a prescription of Tamiflu, Leo was back to his old self in a few days. It took me about five days to feel normal again.

Our household recovered from the flu just in time for our first family vacation out of state and Leo’s first plane ride. We flew down to Florida to visit my husband’s parents. Leo was a champ through it all and made friends everywhere he went. He had a lot of fun at the airports, slept on the flight there and back, and of course had tons of fun with grandma and grandpa. My brother-in-law and his family also came down from Pennsylvania, so the whole gang was together for a good 36 hours. It was so cute watching Leo play with his older cousins. Fun was had by all.

After our vacation, business resumed as usual. Leo and I kept busy with library story time, playdates, and Free Forest School. It has been wonderful building relationships with the group of moms and babies that we have met through all of our activities. It definitely helps me not feel so isolated as a stay-at-home mom, especially during the winter months in Michigan. The (hyper) local mama group that I am in is made up of an amazing array of women. We meet up for playdates, go for walks with our babes, swap baby gear, and just offer each other moral support as we navigate this shared experience of motherhood.

All bundled up for Free Forest School.

After a few weeks of normalcy the Norovirus wreaked havoc on our house. Leo woke up one morning to nurse as usual and then immediately vomited breast milk all over me and the bed. At first I thought he had choked. But then he threw up again and again and again. By 8 a.m. that morning I suspected it was a stomach virus and scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician for later that morning. After seeing the doctor we were sent home with a prescription for antibiotics for an ear infection and instructions to get Pedialyte for Leo. The doctor said if he continued to throw up to take him to the ER so they could monitor him for signs of dehydration. By 1 p.m. that afternoon we were headed to the emergency room. One IV and five hours later we were headed back home with a prescription for an anti-nausea medication.

After the medication kicked in Leo seemed to be feel better but still was not very interested in any food or liquids other than breast milk. Leo and I slept in his room to be safe because his bed is much easier to cleanup than ours. It was a good thing we did because I picked him up in the middle of the night to find he was covered from the waist down in diarrhea. He had four more loose stools that morning. After a quick call to his pediatrician’s office we were headed back to the ER around noon. One IV and seven hours later we were admitted to the Pediatric’s unit of the hospital for dehydration.

Leo and I stayed at the hospital for about 36 hours. My husband spent most of the day with us and only went home at night to take care of our dog (I’m very thankful for our friends and neighbors who were able to help look after Obi during the day). It was very difficult to see my son hooked up to an IV and a heart rate monitor even though I knew he was getting better. He was his normal happy self throughout most of his stay, poking and prodding aside. He just needed a little help replenishing all of the fluids and electrolytes he had lost over the past few days. I kept telling him, “You are so brave. You are so resilient,” because he was.

After basically spending the entire weekend in the hospital we finally went home early Monday afternoon. I was experiencing some norovirus symptoms while we were in the ER, but after a dose of anti-nausea medicatin I was feeling much better. I much rather use natural remedies or take nothing at all when sick, but nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea together are no joke. The moment we got home I had the worst case of diarrhea I have ever had. It lasted a solid 24 hours but subsided greatly after 12. I have never experienced such gastrointestinal distress in my entire life. I can only imagine how Leo felt. Again, he is so brave. He is so resilient.

I am not sure how frequently I will be posting here in the months to come. Monthly updates may be all I have time for. There’s a lot to be said about this urban mom life. It’s a rollercoaster of a ride but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year.