Finally, A Picture

Colin got his 2 front teeth for Christmas, but he hides them most of the time.  Trying to get him to open his mouth isn't easy, so I have been waiting for the perfect moment to get a picture...finally, I did!  He was playing on the floor and I was on the couch.  I snapped about a million pictures and one turned out perfect!

Here are his teeth!

Merry Christmas!

Colin's first Christmas!  It was all about family this year, not opening gifts.  We flew down to Phoenix for the first "everyone there" McAlpine Christmas in a long time. It was the first time any of my siblings would meet Colin.  We had planned to drive, but the week  before with all of us being sick, we figured that flying was a better choice.  My parents were awesome and bought us tickets to visit, which was a huge deal for us because we really couldn't afford to buy the tickets ourselves.  Unfortunately, that meant that Squiggle wouldn't be able to spend the holiday with us.  :(  Both Matt & I were sad about that, but Squiggle got to go to Grandma & Grandpa's, which he loves.  Squiggle got a little vacation from us and the baby, so it was a small consolation for us knowing he was with his grandparents.

If you haven't been to Phoenix in the winter, it is so terrible...in the 60s during the day and 40s at night.  Oh so miserable.  No white Christmas there.  My parents live on a golf course, so there is lots of space out back.  Wildlife wanders around quite often and we even got to see a couple of coyotes.  They weren't too far away, but not so close that I went running into the house.  In fact, it was pretty cool to see.  That isn't something I would see at home.

Colin started Christmas morning with breakfast and then spending some time with Nana & Papa.  He loves just hanging out with them and laughing.  Mommy & Daddy got the gift of a little more sleep.  Woo-hoo!  We finally rolled out of bed around 9:00am.  I don't think I have been in bed that late in years.

Not only did Colin get his 2 front teeth for Christmas, but he also finally started to feel better. After being sick the week before and not eating much, he chose Christmas to start eating and making up for his weight loss.  He ate over 40 ounces for the day!  His usual is about 32 oz, so he is definitely on the mend.  Needless to say, this makes Mommy & Daddy both happy, but tired from the 2am feedings.

On Christmas night,  we all headed out to the hot tub including Colin.  He got to wear his swimsuit for the first time.  Since the water was over 100 degrees, he didn't get to hang out in the water too much, but he did get to sit on Mommy or Daddy's lap and got into the water for little bits at a time. We all had a lot of fun and just bonded as a family.

So, Colin got to spend plenty of time with his aunts and uncles. He was rarely on his own and usually someone was holding him or playing with him on the floor.  I'm so glad that he finally got the chance to meet them and vice versa.  He is a very special little boy and he has a great family to which he is a part.

Everyone has to have a nutty Uncle Bob--I have 2.  Colin is lucky to have just one.  Although, any more would be overload.  He has one nutty Uncle Bob.  I would add a picture, but he doesn't want any pictures of him published anywhere for fear that someone might find it (a little narcissistic paranoid going on).  I'm not sure who would be looking for him or a picture of him, but nonetheless, he doesn't want pictures of him anywhere.  I don't intend to let Colin spend any time alone with the him, so I won't worry about the insanity rubbing off on him.

Overall it was a fun trip and Colin did great!  He is an awesome traveler and hasn't had any problems flying so far.  I am so happy to have a tame baby (at least during the day!).

Secret Santa!

I did a Secret Santa gift exchange with my June 2011 Mommy group.  So much fun.  I made a few things for mine (and had a blast doing it).  Colin had so much fun opening his gifts!  I loved watching him, too.  I knew he wouldn't be opening  any gifts for Christmas, so I was excited that he actually got some gifts from Santa!  Thanks, Santa Tara!

yum...wrapping paper!

Wait, there is more than just the paper?

Look, Mommy...I can chew on this!

More paper!

Open it, Mommy!

Hmm, what do I play with first?

6 Months!

Colin had to hold off for his 6-month checkup for a week because of his respiratory infection, so we headed in when he was 6 months and 1.5 weeks.  Even with his illness and weight loss (about a 1/2 pound), he still is in the 80th+ percentile for weight and 90+ percentile for height.  He is a big boy!  He was way down on his weight shortly after birth, so I expect he will pick it up quickly again.

He did really well with his shots and only cried with the 2nd and 3rd.  As soon as I picked him up, he was calmed down and stopped crying.  As usual, he went crazy on the paper on the doctor's table.  He had fun tearing it apart and even spitting up on it.

Reason for Visit  Visit Type    6 month well child check  Office Visit

Vitals    Height  2' 4"(0.711 m)    Weight  19 lb 5.4 oz(8.771 kg)    Head Circumference  44cm

Diagnosis    ROUTINE MEDICAL EXAM <18 YRS

Immunization History as of 12/20/2011 Never Reviewed

DTAP/HIB/IPV 10/11/2011, 8/11/2011   Hep B <20 Yrs 8/11/2011, 6/10/2011   PNEUMOCOCCAL PREVNAR13 (PCV13) 10/11/2011, 8/11/2011   Rotavirus 10/11/2011, 8/11/2011

 

All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

On top of being sick, Colin has been teething for 2 months.  I figured he would just be teething until his first birthday and then all of a sudden he would have a full set of teeth.  I might be exhausted and completely sleep deprived, but he would finally have teeth after a year.  It appears that Colin is getting his first Christmas gift a bit early--his two bottom teeth started cutting through!  Thank goodness!  My poor baby is in a bit less pain now.  I'm sure they are still bothering him, but not nearly as much as before.  This mommy is so happy to know that he feels better.

6 Month Photos!

Colin went in on Thursday to get his 6 month photos done.  Unfortunately, the system was down, so I couldn't look at the pictures until later.  We had already scheduled for the birthday buddies to go in together on Saturday, so we went again.  Saturday was hellish since it is so close to Christmas, but we withstood the 1.5 hour wait.  The boys also did great and all the pictures turned out amazing!  Unfortunately, shortly after this Colin started to show more symptoms of his respiratory infection.

Sick, Sick, Sick

Really, another cold?  Two months in daycare and a couple of colds for Mommy, 2 for baby plus a virus.  Now Daddy is sick.  I seemed to have been the one who got the brunt of it.  I was out sick on Monday, tried to go to work on Wednesday and had to go home, and went home sick again on Friday.  All I have wanted to do is sleep.  Plus, I got a migraine on Thursday to top it all off. 

On Saturday, Colin just didn't seem to be doing well, so I called the dr and got an after-hours (weekend) appointment at the clinic.  He was wheezing a bit and his breathing was rapid.  So, in we went around 3:30pm. 

The doctor tried to take a listen to his lungs, but there was too much junk clogging his nose, so the nurse had to come in and suction his snot.  The kid HATES that more than just about anything.  It took Matt & I to hold him still while the nurse suctioned his nose.  Lots of crap came out, so it was good.  I have been having a heck of a time doing it at home since he cries and thrashes so much.

The doctor heard some wheezing, so he had a breathing treatment done and gave up a prescription for albuterol to do 2-3x/day.  My poor baby boy.  He actually did really well with the breather and didn't cry much.  He was exhausted, so I think he just had given up a bit and decided to go with it.

For the night he went to bed in his room in his swing.  Matt and I went to bed at 8:30pm (holy crap! that is early) and around 11:30pm woke up to Little Man's crying.  I went and got him to find he was really HOT.  I took his temp and it was 103.6, so he got a dose of Tylenol followed by a breathing treatment.  He slept the rest of the night in our bed.  It was the bed of sickies.  Me blowing my nose, Matt coughing, and a baby with a fever.  Aren't we awesome?