December 1

Will is 5 months old now as of Dec 1! He is 12 lb 12 oz, which means he's gained just over 10 lbs over his birth weight, and he is 23 inches long - 7 inches longer. We had an eventful day, he was cranky most of the day and sleeping more than average, with a stuffy nose. I assumed it was a cold, we've both had a stuffy nose for a few days, but early in the afternoon I noticed his lips were blueish. That often happens when he's cold, but his hands were warm, his face was flushed and he was sweaty though it's usually chilly in the house and I was a little cold. The part that startled me was I checked his tongue and that was turning blue too. I called my folks and found out my niece who we were exposed to briefly last Friday has the flu and an ear infection so could have been contagious without symptoms when we saw her. As luck would have it that was 15 minutes after his doctor's office closed, so I called the doctor on call who said I should bring him into the ER to get checked out. I dug out the snow around the car and headed in. Our road has a good chunk of snow on it, but the rest of the way there was clear except for a thin layer of ice in places. They checked him over, put the oximeter on him and took his blood pressure, pulse and all that, listened to his lungs and heart. It looks like he's probably teething and the blue lips/tongue were just a freak incident, probably from breathing shallow when his nose was stuffy. He's drooling more all of a sudden and trying to bite his fists when they come into range. He doesn't have good enough hand control yet to hang onto a teether and can't quite make those hands go where he wants them yet, so we can use Tylenol or Oragel but not much else we can do for him. There is no tooth looking like it's ready to come out but there is a white spot in the front with a tiny bit of swelling.

I got a letter from SSI today that says Will is no longer elligible for benefits since he no longer has substantial disabilities. He wasn't getting much from them so that's not a huge blow, but has a supplemental insurance associated with his SSI benefits. The letter didn't mention that so we're uncertain whether those benefits will continue. There are alternative programs we're ellgible for that will help with his medical costs, so I have to find out if we need to start the application process for something else. It's been very helpful, the supplemental plan covers all costs that our insurance doesn't, co-pays, prescriptions, everything.

We had a great Thanksgiving! I made the full spread, turkey, cornbead stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. We had a nice candle-lit dinner at home, the first Thanksgiving we've stayed home for. My car has pretty much died. It keeps acting up, the transmission is mostly dead and now it's having some problem my dad thinks is water in the gas. Idon't feel safe driving it anymore, especially in winter with Will in the car so it's just sitting in the driveway and I'm driving Justin's car when we need to go out. Justin is working from home now so that has worked out so far.

I've had a few people ask Will's details - his middle name is Lee, July 1 is his birthday, his birth weight/size was 2 lb 11 oz and 16 inches. His eyes are dark blue and starting to turn green, his hair is light blond/brown with a reddish tint (hard to tell since it's barely more than fuzz) and his due date was September 25. Guess that's about it, hope this finds you all well and staying warm!