Christmas Season

They still love each other!

Jolly Sammy

Johnny opening medical kit

Sammy opening blocks

Sammy biting open a present

Mama's disembodied head

Johnny opening Leap Pad learning toy

Dada and Johnny playing with Leap Frog learning toy

Ahh! Now I can scrub that shower!

Dada showing genuine happiness with his metal detector

Johnny opening a book at Grammy's house

Johnny loves to hold Sammy in his lap

Well, after living in pretty much total isolation for the last month, we all managed to be healthy this Christmas. After the bout with RSV, both boys ended up with ear infections ... Sammy in both ears, and Johnny's first ever. The antibiotics gave Sammy horrible diarrhea and we had to switch medication and then stop the 2nd one early because he was waking up 3 - 4x each night with diarrhea and having 10 - 15 bouts of it during the day. Awful! My advice is if you ever have a baby with diarrhea ... don't put him or her in an exersaucer. What a mess! So I pulled Johnny out of school (too bad we still had to pay tuition) dropped our play group, cancelled all play dates, stayed home from church and any trips shopping or anywhere else we'd come into contact with other people. It may sound extreme, but after Sammy contracted his 9th illness in less than 6 months and was so close to needing to be in the hospital for breathing difficulty with the RSV, I figured it would be irresponsible parenting to willingly subject them to any more germs until they could rest up and strengthen their immune systems. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get an adequate amount of rest myself.

The good side effects of being in isolation for so long are that Johnny has made tremendous strides with his potty training and Sammy's sleeping has improved greatly. Johnny hasn't slept with a diaper in I don't know how many weeks and is pooping in the potty chair or the big toilet all by himself! I just had to throw all caution to the wind and go diaperless at night and hope for the best. Johnny has not had a poop accident yet, and has wet the bed minimally. He's doing extremely well and we are all very proud!

Sammy is sitting up very well now. He sits on his own for long periods of time ... sometimes with the help of the Boppy pillow. Although he still falls over occassionally, he's doing remarkably well. We've been having fun putting toys just out of his reach and having him crawl to reach them. Sammy pushes himself forward very quickly to reach the toys with only a little resistance behind his feet to push off of. He also crawls in reverse quite well ... we'll need to install a device on his diaper that beeps when he's backing up. Ha ha! I've discovered Sammy sleeping on his side recently which is a new position for him. Sammy is an acrobatic sleeper for sure and turns completely around and upside down in bed and goes from one end of the crib to the other. It's pretty funny, I never know where he's going to end up. Polar opposite of Johnny who has always slept in the exact same spot all night long. So far, I see more differences between Johnny and Sammy than similarities. One notable difference is that already at 6 months old, Sammy insists on feeding himself. He gets fussy very quickly if I try to put a spoon of cereal in his mouth and prefers to take the loaded spoon from me and pop in his mouth himself. Johnny, on the other hand, still wants to be fed at 3 1/2 years old. I pictured Johnny helping to feed Sammy in the future, but maybe it will be the other way around! ;)

We celebrated Christmas two days in a row this year. We had our own celebration at home the day before Christmas, starting the day off with me reading a nice long story of Jesus' birth to Johnny over breakfast, followed by opening presents and drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows. On Christmas Day, we celebrated at Keith's mom's house with the rest of his family. Johnny had a rip roaring good time running all around and playing hard with the rest of the kids there. Good thing we brought a change of clothes as he was covered from head to toe in dirt by the end of the day. Keith went all out and bought me a way too expensive but super terrific gift of a PDA with a GPS system. It is simply fantastic! I love it!! My big present to Keith was a cableless touch screen weather station and a date to get a tour of the KHWB news station weather equipment by their Chief Meterologist and weatherman, Keith Monahan. I think he likes it, although he seems to be infinitely more interested in the PDA/GPS. I can't blame him, as it is super neato! Well, it's time to tighten our belts and work off a little post-baby, post-Johnny birthday, post-Christmas debt. We are so very blessed to be able to afford everything we have bought recently and don't take that for granted.

Most of all, we are thankful for being able to celebrate the most special birthday of all ... during this season and beyond. :D!