Busy Busy

so it appears that max is FINALLY over his illness. yay! he was sick for over three weeks, and it sucked. he'll get his last dose of antibiotic tonight. unfortunately, he's starting to get a little snotty again. hopefully this time it will just be a runny nose.

max has been making a little pig of himself for the last few days, about which i am glad. he's been gaining about a pound or so per month lately, but he only gained one single, solitary, pathetic little ounce this past month, despite growing half an inch in height. so he's got some catching up to do on the weight gain front. he was tall for his weight to begin with. my strategy for this is to give him high-calorie snacks like yogurt or cheese with fruit instead of just some cheerios and fruit/veggies and to keep feeding him at mealtimes until he stops opening his mouth for food, which is pretty much what i've always done, but now this means shoveling massive amounts of grub in there. for instance, friday at breakfast max ate a full serving of baby cereal with 1/4 cup applesauce (his usual breakfast). then a miniature banana. and some cheerios. and 4 bites of my (whole wheat) bagel. after consuming a whole cup of baby formula (he usually only drinks about 4 oz. = 1/2 cup in the morning). the night before that he ate two generous helpings of chicken and pasta with tomato basil sauce that had lots of onions and bell peppers in it. then last night at chad's work christmas party, max ate for about 2 hours straight. i took some baby food for him since i didn't know when dinner would be served, and he ate a jar of food then two crackers. he still seemed hungry a half hour later so i gave him the banana pudding i'd brought him for dessert. then chad and i were eating appetizers, and max got all excited, so i gave him the cheese out of the inside of a mozzarella stick (i didn't think the fried crusty outside would be good for him, but he likes cheese). then he ate a couple of bites of my potato soup before deciding he didn't like it. and he ate a ton of bread. i don't know how he held it all. i'm just glad that he's eating again. and he's been in a good mood.

the christmas tree is still not up, even though christmas is NEXT WEEK. shopping is done, presents are wrapped. i will get the tree up today. maybe.

i'm also working on the 2nd chapter of my dissertation, making more tables and figures. but not as many as for chapter 1, so that's a relief.

i've been debating with myself lately about what to do this christmas. chad and i usually spend the night at his parents' house christmas eve then go over early christmas morning to hang out with my family. but i would kind of like to spend christmas eve at home with max. which would make splitting time between two families on christmas day a little hectic, especially considering that we'd have to drive an hour and a half to go see said families. my family always makes a big production of christmas day, opening gifts early in the morning then christmas dinner mid-afternoon, followed by board games, etc. and general family bonding time. i'd feel bad if we couldn't be with my family early christmas morning, especially since my brother won't be there for the first time ever, since he couldn't afford to drive down from TN this year. plus, i'm sure my aunt really wants to do everything at her house. otherwise, i would prefer it if everyone came to our house, even if it meant my having to cook christmas dinner. it would be so much easier. alas, i don't know what to do. we'll probably end up doing the same thing we always have, even though i kind of want to start new traditions with max.