Jeremiah is such a pleasant baby! I don't know how much is personality and how much is Heather's calm confidence in going through the newborn stage for the fifth time, but he sleeps well, eats well, and fusses just a little to say he's hungry or needs a change. None of those long sessions of, "I've fed you, burped you, changed you, walked you, rocked you, sung to you, talked to you ... why are you still crying???" He sometimes even gives Heather three hours of sleep straight. (Note that only a new mother would be ecstatic over three hours of sleep.) He has picked up a bit of a cold; it doesn't seem to bother him much, but we are watching him carefully, praying he will avoid the fevers that both Jon and Joy had.
On the negative side, for days I've been the only fully-functioning adult in this homeschooling household of nine. Until last night, when she came down for dinner, Heather has stayed upstairs for her week of "babymoon." On Sunday morning, Jon got sick and has mostly been passed out on the couch or the bed, except for slowing his recovery by performing the most necessary duties, like keeping his business running, keeping the woodstove—which is responsible for most of the heat in the house—burning, and taking the boys to their final skiing lesson. Not to mention taking care of all his own needs, which is a huge help. Porter was healthy until yesterday, but was hit early on by a sudden crisis at work that has kept him working long hours and sometimes needing as much care as Heather. (Before the week officially started on Monday, he had already put in 23 official hours.) I don't expect having to stay up all night last night for an installation to help his recovery any, and being mostly awake from 3:30 till now is not the best thing for me, either. (The first time this happened was soon after Jeremiah's birth, and I was so exhausted I slept despite the fact that he works in our bedroom; this time that didn't work out so well.)
So you see that the fact that Heather can handle all of Jeremiah's needs with almost no help is a great blessing! We are also thankful for the people who have provided some of our dinners, and that Jon had made a grocery run before getting sick. Meals, if erratic, have been going on. It's also important to mention how wonderful it is that the kids are so competent and independent. But that's another post.
But things are looking up. Joy still has cold symptoms, but only threw up once, and the fever that kept her down and needing extra attention only lasted a day. Heather's doing great and will be taking over the organization of school time as her first after-babymoon duty, which will help enormously. Jon looks to be on the mend, if he didn't set himself back by taking his parents to the airport at 4:15 this morning. Porter occasionally manages to break loose to spent some time with the kids, or to get some work done around the house. He, Jon, and Noah got the upstairs dryer working, which will make life easier, too.
And I have made good use of this time by getting an update written. It's now officially past time to get up.
