Christmas 2016

Christmas this year at our house was both good and bad. It was fun to have a new baby, and Emerson was really good for all of the parties, but unfortunately Deacon got pretty sick. First, we had a brunch at my Grandma Mecham's house on Saturday morning. Deacon had been throwing up since Tuesday and Matt had taken him to Insta-care the night before, but the doctor said he just had a weird flu. He threw up on Tuesday, had a break on Wednesday and Thursday, and then began throwing up again on Friday. It was strange because he would feel fine in the morning/afternoon, but then get sick in the evening and throughout the night. We didn't think he should go to the brunch, so he and Matt stayed home while Emerson and I went. 

Grandparents and Great-Grand-kids:

On Christmas day, Deacon felt fine in the morning and was excited to get his presents from Santa. I was hoping I could feed Emerson before Deacon got up, but that didn't happen, so Emerson happily ate while Deacon opened his gifts. Then we went to my uncle Mike's for lunch and presents at 1pm (which Deacon felt fine for and had a fun time at). After that, Matt's family came to our house around 4pm to open gifts and have breakfast foods for dinner. Shortly after we got home, Deacon started to get sick again. He spent the rest of Christmas sleeping and throwing up (poor kid!).  

Bald Buddies:

We went to my Mom's on Monday afternoon and opened presents with them and Deacon had a fun time. My Mom gave them both Batman jackets, and Deacon was so sad at first because his didn't have a cape on it like Livy's, but then he got happy when he realized his had a mask. A few other things Deacon got this year are a doctor set, a food cutting set, a Mickey Mouse Halloween book, a Stormtrooper, a Ninja Turtle chair, a Star Wars towel, and a castle set. Emerson got some blocks, a crawl and play snail, a caterpillar toy, a Paw Patrol chair, a Ninja Turtles towel, a sleep Whale, a peek-a-boo bear, some pjs, an outfit, and a few other things.

By Tuesday, Deacon still wasn't getting any better, so I took him to his doctor who did a strep test, which was positive. Thankfully we finally figured out what was wrong with him, but by this point he was very dehydrated, so Matt took him to Primary Children's hospital to get an IV and hydrated. They were there for over 5 hours; I felt so bad! Matt said it was really busy, but that Deacon did great. He started his antibiotics that night and was doing so much better by the next morning. Next time he starts throwing up, we will know to get him tested for strep. He had strep back in May where he was also throwing up, but he had a fever that time and no fever this time. It just presented itself in a strange way. Luckily he was able to enjoy New Year's Eve with Matt's family and is all better now. Besides Deacon getting sick, we had a very enjoyable holiday break. 

Emerson - 4 Months

Emerson had his 4-month check up on 12/29/2016. His stats are below:

Weight - 15lb 12oz 51st%

Length - 25.26 inches 46th%

Head - 16.5 inches 52nd%

 He is doing really well. His one ear was a little red and could turn into an ear infection, but wasn't infected at his appointment. He also got two shots and was not a happy boy for the rest of the day. He had a really hard time sleeping for his naps and we couldn't get him to fall asleep for the night until 12:30 a.m. I gave him some acetaminophen, but it didn't seem to help at all. His stats are pretty close to what Deacon's were at 4 months. He is still such a happy, smiley boy, which I love! I love to make him smile and laugh. He's still not sleeping the best at night right now and wakes up in the middle of the night every night. He looks like a totally different kid to me in the pictures below. 

Funny Deacon

Deacon really is such a funny boy.  I made meat loaf for dinner the other night which he ate fine and does like, but when I made the leftovers for lunch another day, he told me he didn't want to eat it because he didn't like it. I told him that he ate it the other night and liked it just fine, but he replied with "sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't."  He actually says this phrase to me all the time: sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. Funny kid.

On another evening I was trying to get Deacon to use the restroom before bed. He was not having it and did not want to go. I was getting frustrated with him and gave him what I will call a "stern" look. Deacon looked at my facial expression and gave me the exact same "stern" look back. I couldn't help but smile and crack up laughing at him giving me the same look. 

He does tend to lie and last night he found some storm trooper toys of Matt's in a box. I told him that he could take them out and look at them, but to be very careful because they are Dad's. He took them all out of the box and put them on the couch.  After that he slowly took them to his room and told me that Dad said he could have them, which of course Matt didn't say because he wasn't even home.  I told him that Dad did not say that, but he kept up his lie and continued to tell me that Dad said he could have them. I love that he took them all in his room and put them away in his drawer. 

Sharing is still very difficult for him and now that Emerson receives toys and presents from people, Deacon wants to play with them and "look at them," meaning touch and hold them. I know it's hard being 3 sometimes. Another funny thing he does is he likes to show you how tall he is. He will say "Mom, let me show you how tall I am," and will then get up and go stand in front of me (or whoever he's showing). "See, i'm this big/tall." It's a good thing he has some tall genes to work with. 

Matt takes Deacon and Livy to daycare in the mornings and I pick them up at the end of the day. Matt said the kids are so nice to each other and will sometimes hold hands as they walk up to Pam's front door. I get a completely different set of toddlers when I pick them up. They pretty much fight and bicker at one another all the way home. Sometimes it's funny, like when Deacon refuses to look out Livy's window to see the Christmas lights because he will only look at the lights out his window, but other times I just can't figure those two out and they go on a on about how they are not each others "best friend." I'm sure they are tired by the end of the day, but I have such a hard time believing that they are so nice to each other in the mornings with what I see at the end of the day. I hope they are nice to each other throughout the day, and only fight when it's time to go home. 

My Mom gave the kids both a chocolate advent Christmas calendar to count down the days until Christmas. Deacon has loved it and almost every morning he wakes up and asks to get his chocolate out. We like to try and guess what shape the chocolate will be each day. He thinks about his chocolate several times throughout the day, too because he will randomly say we forgot to get his chocolate while he is watching tv or before dinner. We have to remind him that we already got the chocolate for that day, which is sometimes hard to get him to believe. There have been a few days where he did forget his chocolate, or forgot to get it until the evening, but he loves getting them. From what I have heard, Livy is out of chocolates already because she had to eat two a day. I understand her oh so well... it's hard for us girls to resist chocolate (:

The Christmas season has been fun with Deacon and Emerson. It has been fun to see all of the Christmas lights and decorations with them, see Santa, and put up our our own decorations. Deacon likes playing with his stocking and likes to pretend he is Santa on occasion. He also enjoys reading the Christmas books that we have and the ones we get from the library. He is still a bit stuck in Halloween though and will ask to get out some of his Halloween decorations occasionally, but i'm too lazy to get them out and want him to enjoy Christmas. 

Emer-Baby is doing well and is progressing with his physical therapy. Hopefully he only has to go one more time in 6 weeks. He is our smiley, happy boy most of the time and is holding his head up better during tummy time and will probably start to roll over soon.

*1/9/17 Update - Deacon kept saying the word "butt" a lot today and we don't like him to say that. During his prayers tonight he said "please help me not say the word butt." I thought it was pretty cute that he was thinking about it and asked for help.

Breakfast With Santa

Mandy, Livy, Deacon, and I went to an event on Main Street at the Wight House on Saturday, December 3 called Breakfast With Santa. We received a nice waffle, egg, potato, and sausage breakfast, and then the kids got to go see Santa. They got their picture taken and each got a special toy, a Christmas bear, from Santa. Deacon was very excited to see Santa, but Livy was quite scared and cried. They also got to go to a fishing pond, color Christmas cards, and get their face painted. Both chose to have a snowman on their forehead. It was a nice event and I think the kids had fun.

Also, I took Deacon and Livy to see the Christmas lights at Centerville Park one evening. They are really pretty and fun to see. The kids liked running around and looking at everything.

This was a different day, but here's our little Emer-Baby sleeping away.