Dominic's 2-month checkup -and- Hard-stuff Parenting 101

Before I get into the point of the theme of this post, let me just give you a couple of pictures and a little commentary.

Dominic has been doing more and more every day, and smiling and enjoying more activities. Here's Dominic on Daddy's shoulders on Saturday 11/24. We had planned to go to Catalina after Thanksgiving, but the seas got rough so we hung around home and played.

Then on Sunday, Dominic was cooing up a storm. Here, he's dressed all warm from the stroller walk we just took to the park, and he was telling Daddy all about how he'd like to do that again sometime soon. (Ok, that's what we think he was saying.)

On Tuesday night, we went with Gram, Granddaddy and the Etheridge cousins to see the Christmas tree lighting and carol performers in the park across from South Coast Plaza.

Dominic seemed to like "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" the best! (when he wasn't snoozing)

On Wednesday, he was in the best mood ever! But alas, it wasn't to last. It was time for his 2-month checkup, which means lots and lots of shots... yuck!

The good news: He is really healthy and growing big and strong! He is nearly 13 lbs (ok, 2.2oz short: 12lbs 13.8oz)! He is nearly 150% of his birthweight. He has put on 3 inches in length, too. Some of his newborn clothes are already getting too short or too tight. It's exciting but I'm a bit melancholy that we are already saying goodbye to the tiniest version of our baby angel.

Here's a picture of Dr. Pellman examining Dominic. Then... it was time for the batch of vaccinations... a total of 5 shots! Thanks to an experimental version of one of the vaccines, we were able to knock it down to 3 pokes, but he still hated it. He cried during the shots, but right away he was smiling and cooing and supporting his weight on his legs again. On the way to Gram & Granddaddy's house, a trip we planned so they could help us with what we were expecting would be a cranky feverish Dominic, we started to wonder if we had over-prepared. But then at 4:15pm, he woke himself up from a sound sleep with a bloodcurdling scream of pain from his sore leg muscles. For the next hour he cried bloody murder, and for the following hour, he slept and kept waking up bellowing every time he would make the slightest move of his legs, so we decided to give him his first dose of baby Tylenol ever. Afterward, we measured his temp at 100.4. Awwww! Gram's awesome snuggly hugs and singing were the only things that could console him.

We thought sure it would be a loooooong night, but he ended up sleeping great. His fever actually increased to 101.9 after the Tylenol wore off, but with another dose it decreased under 101. This morning, he had stopped freaking out every time he moved his legs.

So today, we decided to accompany Daddy to the Brea Mall and walk around and do Christmas shopping while Daddy got his hair cut. Dominic really enjoyed the lights and sounds of the mall despite his slight lingering temperature. (Here's Dominic checking out the food court with Nana.)

I consider each of these events some introductory lessons to the challenges of parenting. The way I see it, there are several things to consider when you're deciding a course of action for your child: what God wants (not always readily apparent, but if you can figure it out is clearly always what you should do), what you want, what your spouse wants, what the child wants, what various other family/friends/onlookers want, and then what is the healthy thing to do. Then you make your decision based on those factors.

For example: When we were leaving the mall, Dominic was tired and cranky and really just wanted to be cuddled. Lord knows cuddling him is certainly what I wanted to do! And for a brief moment, I was tempted to just hold him (and kiss him and kiss him) in my lap for the drive home and say balderdash to the carseat. But that would have been really irresponsible, even though it is what both he and I wanted. No matter how careful we were on the drive home, some fool could run a red light and then I'd be really glad Dominic was strapped into his seat.

Earlier at Dr. Pellman's, I wanted to just explain that we'd be really careful and make sure Dominic doesn't get exposed to polio or rubella or whatever else he was needing a vaccine for. I didn't want him to have to go through that pain, and he certainly was in agreement with me! But again, that would not have been prudent, to quote a famous comedian quoting our former President.

Even earlier, when we went to the tree-lighting show... well, I probably sort of failed that test. It was chilly and late. Eddie was hungry and wouldn't be able to eat until after the show. But I wanted to go, and Gram and the girls wanted me to go and to bring Uncle Eddie and Dominic. So we went. Now, I'm not going to say we didn't have a good time because we did... even Dominic and Daddy. But it was something that a better parent may have decided to save for next year when Dominic might be able to enjoy it more. It's so hard to say no! Especially when you have such great and loving company!

But there was one time when all the planets lined up and what I wanted is what he wanted is what Daddy wanted and was the healthy thing and likely what God wanted us to be doing, and that was the fun time we had just being a family and playing together at home. My best memories of childhood are of that very thing. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

So I'm going to thank God for those times it's easy because what we should do is exactly what we all want to do. And I'm going to try to keep my eyes open for those moments I should decide to put God's will and the healthy/smart thing above my own wishes... and Dominic's wishes. I'm sure it's only going to get more difficult, but God and Daddy (I mean Eddie) and my other earthly angels will help me. And perhaps those of you reading this will say a quick prayer for me to get most things right. :-)