February 20: Ethan's Chair

About 2 weeks before Ethan was born, Jon and I were on the search for the perfect glider. We had done our research, came up with a couple of brands that we liked and on one Saturday afternoon in early January, took a drive out to a store that carried the gliders we had been looking at. Once there, we even got a tutorial on what to look for. Since this chair was mainly for me and the baby, it had to fit my size, so I went from chair to chair checking them all out...needless to say, we spent an embarrassing amount of time testing out all of the options available to us. What can I say? There's not much to keep you entertained in the dead of winter when you are in the middle of your pregnancy.

We finally agreed on a Best Chair, The Bedtime Series. Next: what type of fabric? We couldn't agree. I wanted something soft and fuzzy, but Jon refused to let me get chenille or a light fabric that would show wear (always the practical one). When we got home that night, we still hadn't reached an agreement. I jumped on line and came upon a website for a little boutique shop, Twinkle Twinkle Little One, that was right on Damen and had all of the Best Chairs available for custom order. It closed in 50 minutes, so we got back in the car and drove over to see what they had available. What a cute little store! The owner was great and talked us through what her past customers have liked and what the general trends were. She also let us take the whole swatch book home with us so we could check it out in different lighting and against our own stuff. That was what we needed. We found a fabric that we agreed on almost right away (and it was soft AND fuzzy...ha!). The next day, we brought the swatches back in and ordered the chair. The shop owner thanked us and said she would be call us as soon as the chair arrived, in about 3 weeks. At the time, we would never have thought it possible that the chair and Ethan would arrive the exact same week.

Looking back, the timing was perfect...mom and dad (or the new Grandma and Grandpa Kruse) were arriving from MN the day I was to come home from the hospital; we have a small condo with only a sectional sofa in the living room, so the extra seating was going to come in handy. Jon worked out a plan with the shop owner to pick the chair up at her home since the store was closed and had it set up when we all arrived. Grandpa Kruse took the chair over immediately and broke it in for us by watching TV with his eyes closed, one of his favorite past times, more than once that week :). It was nice to get his seal of approval and to have proof that it would be comfortable for not only me, but people over 5'2".

When my parents left, Jon quickly took it over. Now every night, Jon settles in to the chair to work away on his computer or to watch TV. Not to be left out, the animals of the house have also laid claim to this chair. It started out that Ty, the cat, would lie on it... but we have a very jealous puggle roaming the house that has a tendancy to harrass Ty out of all of his favorite snoozing places and this time was no different. Now, you can find Otis sprawling out in the chair at any time that Jon is not in it with the cat glaring at him from across the room.

So, why do I go on and on about a chair? Because this chair has quickly become such an integral part of our household in such a short amount of time... and ultimately, because the chair is Ethan's. In some strange Nicole way, the chair represents Ethan. It's a physical presence in our home when he cannot be. I look at the chair and it reminds me that Ethan will be home soon to claim this special chair and it helps me get by. And in the meantime? I gain some sort of comfort in the fact that its become such a favorite and I love seeing Grandpa or Jon or even Otis enjoying it so much, as I'm sure Ethan will soon.

Ethan Progress Report...he's doing great :) After losing 20 grams yesterday, he gained 50 today and is now at 1100 grams (2lbs, 7oz). We got a good cuddle in today and it won't be too much longer until we'll try to introduce a bottle to him. 2 weeks maybe? I can't wait. We were hoping to see his cannula disappear this week, but it may be a little longer. They upped his air pressure to level 1.5 from level 1 as he was struggling a little last night. We can't be too disappointed as he's been progressing so fast. We can't look at this as much of a set back. He's one month this week, hard to believe. It's amazing to look through the pictures over the past 4 weeks and see his growth, he truly is our little miracle.