The Year

Best ever. 

Penultimate

I'm sitting here watching Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve and have no idea who two-thirds of the performers are. I resolve to be more hip in 2012. And to not be home watching this show on the eve of 2013.

Until then, I'll try to think of something more profound to say in my last blog post of this year. 

Quantity

In order to successfully complete this blogging challenge I need to publish eight posts today. That's not going to happen. In order to hit 100 posts for 2011 I need to publish three posts today. That's so going to happen.

And this counts as one!

Blessed

We made it to Helena with only a peep on the plane from our exhausted babe. Then we proceeded to have a food and laughter filled holiday. Three more days with family here in mountain country. Happy, happy.

The Travel

Today we are off to Montana! I couldn't be more excited. That's not true. I could be more excited if Sam had slept at all today. This may be our most interesting flight yet. Wish us luck!

Piece of Pecan Pie

Three or four times a day Sam crawls over to the entertainment center, pulls himself up and requests music by clicking his tongue, putting his fingers together as if snapping and shaking his head. When we oblige, he is overjoyed and shakes his little booty away. Please witness:

The Bezoar

I finally convinced Dave to look in my ear. And boy was it interesting.

There seems to be what he described as a "bezoar" hanging out in my ear canal. Now, it's not really a bezoar in my ear because, having Googled the word, I know that a bezoar is a ball of swallowed foreign material. I don't know a lot about anatomy, but I'm pretty sure anything I swallow should not end up in my ear. Still, bezoar is a good visual for what I have going on. It's also a great word.

Further research on the internets has revealed that a more appropriate term for this mass is cerumen impaction. Here's a definition:

We say that cerumen is impacted when it has built up in the ear canal to such a point that there may be signs that something is not quite right. It is important to note that, ideally, ears might never need cleaning—they are designed to clean themselves. Impaction often happens when people use items like cotton swabs or bobby pins to try to clean their ears. This only pushes the earwax farther into the ears and can also cause injury to the ear.

Yep. That sounds about right. I am guilty of trying to clean this ear with a cotton swab because, well, there were signs that something was not quite right. Apparently that was a bad idea. Question: Why do they make cotton swabs if they are not supposed to go in your ears? This can't be my fault alone.

So now I'm banned from using Q-tips and have to put drops in my ear to try to break up the bezoar. If that doesn't work, Dr. Dave is going to try to gently rinse out the mass with a nasal aspirator. And if that doesn't work, he's going to try to dig out the clump with some tool I'm pretty sure he's not medically trained to use. He can put in a central line, but he's never had to perform an earwax extraction. He tells me he'll watch a video first. That's reassuring.

La Lumière

We finally decorated the tree. Dave went overboard on the lights, but we got this great shot of Sam after he recovered from being blind.

Each the Other's World Entire

Today my book club met and it was a delightful event. We read Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and while this was not a delightful book, it was strangely beautiful and made for great conversation. It tore my heart right out, but I really loved it. Go ahead. Read it. If you want.

On The Move

We've been thinking about getting Sam a walker wagon, but this box seems to do the trick.

Off Schedule

After Sam talked and then cried through his first nap today, I did what any mother in my situation would do. I gathered him up and went to Target. Sam's favorite place in all the world is a shopping cart, so he was happy as could be cruising through the aisles. 

Sam fell asleep in the car on the way home and kept sleeping right through lunch time. And then he ate his lunch when he should have been napping. Later he napped when it should have been snack time. 

This was all very disconcerting for me. But we weathered the storm as best we could.

Someday I'll Run Again

I went for a long walk today. I've been neglecting exercise of late, so it was quite nice to be on the move. Hundreds of black crows cawed at me as I passed them, and I thought I might be in a Hitchcock movie. After 45 minutes of walking, it seemed I had gone too far because my hip flexors and knees were starting to ache. I made it home, but the aching continued for three more hours. I took some drugs. Then I felt better.

So. Thorns and roses.

O Tannenbaum

We're going to be out of town for Christmas this year (Montana in 11 sleeps!) so we decided to get a small tree to celebrate the season and mark Sam's first holiday with a bit of tradition and decoration. Usually we cut our own tree, but being a little late in the month for that endeavor, we drove out to Linder's to check out the pre-cut selection. Come to find out, Linder's doesn't carry a selection of the Charlie Brown variety, but they do have a nice little Econo Lot with some lovely Balsams each marked with a $37.99 price tag. Immediately, I found a handful of trees suitable for our purpose, but Dave fell in love with one in particular. A natural Balsam eleven feet tall. Just like that we went from small to the biggest tree we've ever had. This reminds me of two things I've learned about marriage: You can't really plan anything and often that's the best way to go.

Christmas Bells Are Ringing

Sam is really into singing lately. Here's a tune he shared with us while crawling around today. I can't get enough of it.

And a Glass of Milk

Right now I'm waiting for Dave to make us each a brownie. We use the No Pudge! mix because you just add some yogurt and put it all in the microwave for a minute to a get a delicious and fat-free treat. Dave has never made one of these for me before. When he wants one, he talks me into making it by describing how hard it is to get the right proportion of yogurt to brownie mix. The truth is, it's not hard at all. But he goes on and on until I just make the brownie. Not tonight. I've been holding out for twenty minutes while he goes on about the difficulty. Since I've been typing this, he has actually gotten up to prepare the mix. This is monumental. And it happened today.

Common Cold

Today I'm sick. I've been trying to function normally but would really like to take a nap. I also wish I could get that fluid-feeling out of my ears. Or get the actual fluid out if that's what's going on. We have an otoscope in the house, but I can never get Dave to look in my ears. I think it could be really interesting. He doesn't seem to agree.

Right Down Santa Claus Lane

We had a fun family outing today in Linden Hills. It's a neighborhood nowhere near our house, but we heard word of reindeer, Santa Claus, and -- can you even believe it -- penguins in the area. Penguins! We were not disappointed. Well, except that the penguins came from South Africa and preferred a warm climate, so they had to be kept in a heated tent. But whatever. That wasn't really a disappointment because we got to see penguins. Penguins! Sam took it all in and seemed to love it despite a runny nose and teething pain. And he didn't even freak out when Santa pulled up a chair at our lunch table for this photo op. Of course, when there's food in front of him, Sam doesn't worry about much else.

Soliciting

Today I'm thinking about gifts, and I need some help. Can anyone recommend a good book for a 2nd grade girl? I'm looking at you, LH! This girl likes to do her nails, talk a mile a minute, put fancy feathers in her hair, and participate in competitive sports. In fact, she's the state swimming champion for her age and sex. But that last category didn't stop her from beating all of the boys' times too. So, she's pretty awesome and deserves a good book or two.

Oh, and if you have any ideas for her parents, we drew their names too. They like music, food, and Scandinavian countries. And, of course, cheering for their ridiculously talented children in athletic events.

Let the ideas roll, People.

Hello, My Name Is

Today I had a great meeting with my writing group. We're all a little behind where we had planned to be, but we each met part of our goal for the month. So that's good. It's also good that we get to talk with pals about similar insecurities and successes in this lonely business we call dissertation writing. And we eat quiche at every meeting. Basically, this group is a lifesaver.

101

Sam really enjoyed the weekend at the cabin. Whenever he pointed at an item he wanted (which was pretty much any item, anywhere) and said "Dat!" someone would grab that item and hand it over. Naturally Sam assumes this will continue at home. Tonight, he refused to nurse until I handed him the TV remote (Dat! Dat! Dat!) and then he pushed buttons while suckling away. In retrospect, that was probably bad parenting.