237 Days of Henry

Saturday marked the end of Grandpa Kenski's streak of visiting Henry every day. That's 237 days of Henry since Henry was born. Unfortunately, Grandpa Kenski came down with a cold on Sunday, and it persisted today. Given Henry's still fragile state when it comes to his lungs and immune system, he can't be around anyone who shows any signs (however small) of illness. Grandpa had the longest run out of everyone in the family (including me and Jeff) of visiting Henry since he was born. I miss out on seeing Henry 5/15 through 5/17 when I came down with the flu. I recovered quickly, but I didn't want to chance being a carrier and passing the germs along to Henry (or anyone else in the NICU for that matter). Jeff stayed away 5/16 and 5/17, because he was afraid of being a carrier flu having been around me. There were a couple other days when he couldn't make it into the NICU, because of work and managing the household when I was spending my days there. So long story short, the streak was finally broken yesterday. I know my dad wasn't happy about it. Incidentally, our dogs aren't happy about it either...they were getting used to my dad sneaking them treats when Jeff and I aren't looking.

Today was a quiet Christmas Eve. Henry got up quite a few times during the night. I suspect that it is because we still aren't fortifying the breast milk, which means that it goes through his system more quickly than it did when it was fortified. We went on a mid-morning walk and a late afternoon walk. Henry weighed 14 lbs 6 ozs.

It was a relaxing day. However, it doesn't feel quiet like Christmas without our big family celebrations. With my parents being sick, one of my sisters being sick last week, and Jeff and Henry in cold recovery, we decided to put off Christmas dinner until Saturday. That's when we'll exchange gifts with my sisters, their significant others, and my parents in our round robin gift exchange. We moved to the round robin exchange about 10 years or so ago, when we all came to the conclusion that we didn't really need that many gifts and decided to temper the materialistic side of the season's festivities (at least for the adults in the family).

We spent this evening watching "It's a Wonderful Life." Henry fell asleep during it. Jeff is currently wrapping presents for Henry. He did some shopping the other day for Henry's first Christmas. Henry's growing so fast that he needs larger clothes and new toys that will stimulate his development. I suspect that the biggest hit tomorrow morning will be the wrapping paper. Henry really loves going to the doctor's office, because of the tissue paper on the examination table. Henry squeals with delight when he kicks the paper and makes noise. Even though he can't understand the holiday yet, I'm sure that he'll be happy with the novelties that the day will bring.