Shangri-La

After a few weeks of erratic sleeping and a cold, David is mostly back to sleeping through the night and taking a couple of naps a day. His one-year checkup went perfectly, and we have gradually switched from formula to whole milk. We replaced our coffee table with a playpen space that we are calling Shangri-La, which Wikipedia says has become synonymous with a mythical utopia, “a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world.” It is important that we think positive thoughts about it, because David is not generally happy about being confined.

He has accepted the new car seat, and having it installed on the passenger side instead of the middle of the back seat means that the dog can ride in the back seat as well. This is a huge change—it gives us a lot more room to pack things in the far back of the station wagon, and it means that our next car could be a sedan if we want. And the dog has always been more relaxed riding in the back seat, since she’s closer to us. Driving back from Maine a few days ago, I glanced back to see the dog curled up on the seat with David reaching his hand over to pat her gently on the shoulder.

David picked out his own new toy today for the first time, a small playground ball with animals on it. He broke into a big grin when we showed him how well it bounced in the store, he pushed away all other toys we offered him, and he was excited to see it appear again when we got home!

A new nap schedule, milk instead of formula, a new car seat, and a new living room layout. Life is change. But even as we are comfortably ensconced at home during our first real snowfall of the winter and planning a quiet New Year’s Eve, we are determined to keep our very non-mythical family Shangri-La happy but not isolated in the year to come.