January

2012? It can't be 2012!  It sounds so futuristic. So Stanley Kubrick. But alas we're living it and it's FAST. Maybe it's because we missed the New Year all together. After spending New Years Eve in the ER (Stella, double ear infection, 104.7 degrees - as if I'll ever forget) the rest of January played out in fast-forward and we never did get back to making our New Years resolutions. I had intended for this to be the year for a family-wide resolution. I figure Grayson is old enough now to contribute in such a way. I guess it's not too late - I'll put it our the wish list for this weekend.

In case we don't get to it this weekend, I've secretly adopted my own three-pronged, fully alliterated resolution ... SLOW it down, keep it SIMPLE and get some SLEEP. (did I mention we haven't slept through the night for 14 months?)  It does seem Stella has resolved to sleep a bit more in 2012. Last week, she slept for 9 hours straight for the first time in her life. Of course Brad and I weren't here to witness this sleep-a-thon. This happened under Nana & Gan's watch. Which doesn't surprise me a bit. Nana's got the touch. Always has, always will.

Back to the double ear infection ... that was the first of a back-to-back, double whammy of ear infections. Fingers crossed that we'll pass the doctor's inspection tomorrow with no clear and present danger lurking in Stella's tiny ear canals. We're also due for a weight check, something I thought was reserved for the newborn months. But Stella's growth chart is looking quite bearish after taking a dive after the New Year's Eve incident. I'm betting we're back on track now - my biceps are like a fine tuned weigh station. When she's growing, I feel it.

And Grayson, well, we're set for the kindergarten welcome walk this Friday. [Sigh.] This is a tough one for me. I want to feel good about it, but to be honest I'm not quite there yet. Maybe Friday will ease my mind. But I think this is going to have to play out a bit more before I can let my guard down. For one, we're placing our bets on the public school system, at least for now. I never thought there would be so many question marks on this topic - kindergarten, and school in general just seemed so automatic, so easy when I was young. There weren't many decisions really. But now you can pick a side and debate just about every aspect of the school-aged years. Red-shirting is the hot topic today and a controversial one that we seem to be stuck in the middle of with no clear long-term point of view to help guide us. What is red-shirting? More to come on this and other Grayson goings ons ... after I get some sleep. (hopefully before March)