Uh Digg-a

Ever since Miles got a cold in Panama back in early Januray, our house has been like a clinic! We keep on passing colds, sinus infections and stomach problems back and forth between the three of us. Even my mom, whose been staying with us for the last week, went down! Oh and every time Miles' cold/nasal infection/diarrhea gets better, he's hit with tooth pain! Yep, those little baby molars piercing his gums for days at a time, keeping him and us awake at 2 am. Last night, I had just fallen into slumber when little dude starts yelling and crying in pain. I waited about 20 minutes before going into his room, hoping that he might just get himself back to sleep. But he couldn't handle the pain and I couldn't handle the screaming. So I spent the next hour and a half, comforting him and trying to get him to stay asleep in his crib, not in my arms. In the end, I failed and had to call in reinforcement because I could barely stay awake.
But in that hour and a half, as I cursed the situation while trying to exude calmness to my delirious child, I smiled and recounted all the cool things he's been doing lately.

Cool thing #1: HUGS! - Miles gives hugs now. Real, arms-around-the-neck-squeezing hugs!
I had only received hugs like that from other people's kids and even then I melted. To have my own child hug me tightly around the neck is like heaven. The first time he did it, I almost cried!

Cool thing #2: "Uh-Digga-A"- Miles is making this hilarious new sound where he's exploring new consonants and different tongue positions. Great for his speech development and great for making us laugh. He's been crawling around the house going, "uh digg-a digg-a digg-a". It's comedy!

Cool thing #3: Straw Drinking! - Okay, another great thing for strengthening his mouth and tongue muscles, therefore helping with speech, is drinking from a straw. Every now and then I give him the straw sippy cup or just a straw to sip water with and he hasn't really known what to do with it until two days ago. We were at a restaurant and he didn't want anything, so I offered him some water in a regular glass with a straw and he sucked it right up. And wanted more! Woo-hoo!!! Now we can start working more with a straw and hopefully getting him away from the bottle finally!

Cool thing #4: Eye Exam Results- Miles went in for his first eye exam and passed with flying colors! The doctor said his vision is fine and she sees no problems with jittery eyes, crossed eyes, cataracts, or anything else. She said that unless something came up, she wouldn't need to see him again for another 3 years. Okay!

I know there were other things, but I can't remember anymore since it was past midnight and I've had 3 shots of espresso today and I'm a bit too jittery and scattered to think straight. Point is, that as terrible as the sleepless nights may be, they are worth getting those little hugs from my baby and hearing him find his voice and knowing that he's healthy and getting stronger every day. I'm exhausted and cranky at times, but so is anybody who's averaging 5 hours of sleep a night. At least I get some pretty amazing rewards out of it!!