first, where i've been.

This has been a week of firsts. Ethan's first time using a sippy cup, the first wedding I've shot since I had Ethan, the first time my husband and I took Ethan to my family's lake home and...(here is when it all starts going downhill fast)...Ethan's first cold. Which, consequently, happened at the same time as my first cold in over a year (and my husband's as well, go figure). It also consequently happened to be one monster of a cold.

It's been an exhausting few days of nasal aspirators and sore throats and stuffy noses and cold rub and keeping hydrated and humidifiers and thermometers and steamy bathrooms and chest congestion and puddles of baby vomit (that as some unspoken rule can seemingly only happen after midnight) and saline mist and saline wipes and sleep deprivation and worrying. Oh, the worrying. My pediatrician's office is probably pretty sorry they have an after-hours telephone line right about now.

As we drove home from the lake house this afternoon, we also got the sheer joy of experiencing Ethan's first "diaper explosion." (Told you it was a week of firsts.) I'll spare you a description of the aftermath but let's just say that nothing in the backseat of the car (including myself) was spared. There were messes in places I can't even fathom but eventually we made it home, just in time to give Ethan a warm bath and swaddle him up for bedtime.

Sunday is coming to a close and I am hanging all of my hope on the notion that this is a healthy house come tomorrow, in time for the start to a fresh, new week. I'd cross my fingers, but I just can't seem to find the energy.