Take THAT, Food Pyramid!

Tonight for dinner my wee one ate: banana, wheat toast, cheddar cheese, and winter squash... and eventually some yogurt too (as I had to mix the remaining winter squash INTO yogurt for him to finish it.) Some milk on the side to complete the deal.

Yesterday he ate: Earth's Best Spaghetti w/ Cheese (which has veggies snuck in) avocado, and milk.

Two nights of (dare I say it) well rounded-ish meals? Eating something OTHER than yogurt (albeit, yogurt that i sneak pureed veggies in) ? I think we are coming to the end of our Weeks of Sickness. Hoorray!

And what last week of sickness it was. E was out of town for a long weekend, and of course the first day after he left Elliot had his worst morning yet. He woke at 3:50 AM and there was NOTHING I could do to soothe him. Nursing, bottle, bink, walking, rocking, ssh-ing... he cried and refused it all. Finally at 5:30 AM I broke down and put on Ratatouille and sat with him in my lap. I had given him Tylenol around 5, so I don't know if it was the painkiller or the clever rat chef, but he finally calmed down. He let me put him back in his crib at 5:45, and I was back asleep by 6. Only to have him wake us up again an hour later. Sigh.

However, the damage had already been done, so to speak: I had called my mom (who lives in California, by the way) at 5 AM and said "Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" While Elliot howled in the background she agreed immediately to drop her plans and fly up to help me while E was gone. Thank god.

She arrived that afternoon and proceeded to help Elliot and I get through the weekend, as he steadily returned more and more to his normal self. She got him all his birthday gifts early, so we took his new blue car out for a spin. You can see the wee bit of sad face lingering in the picture...

Our families both live in cities where we could never live, too few opportunities in the theatre to support us. This is one of those times where I really felt their absence, having no one to call who could hop in a car and rush over to help me at 5 AM when I was at my wit's end. Thank goodness I have a mom with the means and the willingness to hop on a flight at a moment's notice to come help me. I literally don't know how I would have made it through the weekend. Single mothers? Military Mamas? All my love and respect goes out to you.

By last night's pasta dinner, this lil guy was feeling much better, and therefore, so was I. Thank goodness.