Christmas fever

We have come out on the other side of Levi's first Christmas, first fever, and first....I can't think of something else but I always try to list things in threes.

The fever cropped up marginally on Wednesday before Christmas, but shot above 100 degrees on Thursday morning. I spent the last couple of days before the weekend working from home, which was actually manageable since Levi slept a lot of the time, and was mostly okay playing next to me on the couch or floor. I had a phone call on Thursday that I couldn't miss, and I was hoping Levi would be OK for that half an hour or so playing next to me. The moment the PR person put me on hold to connect me with a vice president, Levi started crying. Fortunately, I picked him up and put him in my lap, and was magically able to hold my cell phone on my shoulder, Levi in my lap and type out the interview word for word. I guess my hands mesmerized Levi because he sat there staring at them while I typed for the whole half an hour :)

Other than sleeping and a lot of whining, Levi is still pretty easy going during his cold, though his passy is his best friend and he wants to be held at all times, both completely understandable. The worst has been at night, because Levi couldn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time without waking up from coughing and being super congested.

The fever broke late on Saturday night, the fourth day of it, but the congestion is hanging on still.

The sick baby and rather sleepless nights made for a pretty quiet Christmas weekend, but it was still very fun. My siblings, parents, grandma and aunt were here for Saturday and Sunday, and everyone was gracious with letting us take naps and helping with cooking and cleaning.

All of the sleeplessness ended up leaving me with a sinus infection I couldn't fight off without drugs and taking a lot of naps, which worked out since I've had this whole week off of work, thank goodness. One of 56 percent of the workforce off between Christmas and New Year's, according to NPR.

The week off was mostly spent relaxing (no, my house is not sparklingly clean since I've had free time, I opted to be a rebel and not actually use my time to be responsible :) Tim's parents were here for Monday through Wednesday and his sister's family was here Friday and Saturday. So most afternoons and evenings were spent hanging out with family, and most mornings were spent reading, playing with Levi, or running quick errands. 

Levi has enjoyed his time with family, from getting held almost all of the time, to playing with new toys. Though his interest in opening presents was mostly with the wrapping, particularly any ribbons on his presents. He got some very cute little outfits for Christmas and a slew of new toys, including a handmade Noah's ark with several more pairs of animals from Nanan and Papa (Tim's parents).


Levi's been making some new sounds, though some are because of the phlegm I think. He makes this laughing sound in the back of his throat that sounds like he's trying to clear it and/or choking. He keeps making the sound because he thinks its funny. He also makes little hissing sounds like a snake,
though sometimes he ends up just spitting drool that way :)

He's become very good at grabbing things between his thumb and forefinger, and particularly like to play with and chew on tags - no matter how small they are. And of course, picking items up to bang them back down again... or throw them on the floor, if he's in his high chair.

I don't have any photos of our time with Tim's family, but every other member of the family took lots of photos, so feel free to email some to me and I'll add them to this post folks!