Ear tubes, Turkey, and Trees, Oh My!

We have been pretty busy over the past month. At the top of our list has been the health of poor little Caleb. He had his 5th ear infection in early November and we headed to the ENT. After 4 days of antibiotics, the ENT asked me if I had been giving him his medicine because his ears still looked horrible. We went the following week for ear tubes. The following Monday he was supposed to get vaccinations and they assured me to just bring him on unless he had a fever. Being the great PA/mom that I am, I never thought to check his ears. When we arrived, the ever-so-wonderful nurse practitioner asked very nicely if I had not noticed the gobs of gook coming into his ear canals. He went back on antibiotics. By Thanksgiving day, he had hand, foot and mouth. I was sure that was what it was but we went back to the doctor on Monday. We seem to be in the clear so far this week, but then again it is only just beginning!!

We spent Thanksgiving at home and ate with our wonderful neighbors who we might as well call family. It was a relaxing day since I had to work on Friday. Austin tried to cause a little commotion by falling into the outside firepit. Gasp, sigh, and wonder if this is for real! You know it is the truth. I had gone to take leftovers home and Austin was not sitting in the chair as he should. From what I understand he fell forward into the firepit and then was pulled out by Andy, his trusty wing man if you will. He was more upset that he was pulled out by his hoodie hat than about falling. He had one little scratch and some black soot under his eyes but otherwise weathered another storm just fine!

We put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. I got a burst of energy so Austin and I put up all of the inside decorations at once. He was a lot of help and was excited to be involved. We tried several times to get a picture for the Christmas card in front of the tree but were never successful at getting the two of them to smile at the same time. Caleb is on his own terms but is cute as can be when he decides to smile.

Well, it is back to battling the Christmas crowds. I do believe I might just do it from my computer! Until next time...

Halloween and More!

So I did not get a chance to post pictures from Caleb's birthday party so they are included in the slide show above. He had a good time walking around and looking at his gifts. The cake was not so much on his to do list this time around. He just was not interested. He did eat a piece of cake when I fed it to him from a fork. Next on our whirlwind of events (actually this begins Friday night and we ended with the birthday party on Sunday) was the Fall Festival at school. Both boys had a really great time. Caleb enjoyed the bean bag toss, hay pile, and making his own pumpkin with stickers. Austin enjoyed just being the social butterfly that we all know and love! It seems like he knows everyone. Saturday we headed to Henderson for Dad's class reunion. We had a nice time seeing some people Shane had not seen since graduation while the kids stayed with grandparents. Then Sunday was Caleb's party.

This past weekend was Halloween and we had some birthday parties mixed in there. Our neighbor, Ashley, turned one on Halloween and we had a great time celebrating with her. That night we all went Trick Or Treating together. Yes, the babies were in charge of the cooler as we went around the neighborhood. Austin did a great job despite worrying about the dogs as he went. The cemetery picture is from one of my patient's houses in the next subdivision over. They have an impressive display both inside and out! From the pictures you will see that the little ones tired quickly and we were back home by about 8:15. We finished the weekend Sunday with pictures for the boys' birthdays and Christmas. They both did a fabulous job and the pictures turned out great.

We are going for several more ECU games before the holidays and who knows what else we will get in to. Until next time ...

The Big One Year Old!

This past Saturday was Caleb's first birthday! He has had many firsts over the past week. The Monday before his birthday, he took off walking! He has not looked back since. He is all over the place but most enjoys following Austin. Friday before our trip to Greenville, we turned his car seat around and he had his first forward facing ride. It was much more eventful for us than him. He slept the entire way! Saturday he went tailgating and to his first Pirate football game. It was so cold and needless to say he was unimpressed. He did clap several times but wanted to get down and walk through the bleachers. He and I spent the 2nd half in the Pirate Club building where he took a nap. He also has had his first taste of whole milk and has decided that he does not like it cold out of the fridge. We will have to conquer this along with his protest of the sippy cup in the next week or so. He will be having his official birthday party this Sunday and we will post more pictures after that.

Austin has been doing well too. He has learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. It is kind of hard to teach him in our neighborhood due to lack of open area so he took his bike to Nana and Grandpa's for the wide open space. It did not take long at all. He also saw a baby calf pretty much right after being born. We were thankful we did not ride by several minutes earlier!

We have the costumes in place for Halloween and have lots of plans for next weekend. We will post more pictures after the party Sunday so stay tuned!

Austin is 5!

I have been meaning to post this earlier, but...

After a loooong birthday week and 3 parties, Austin is officially 5 years old. It is hard to believe that before too long he will be going to kindergarten. He had his birthday party for his friends the Sunday before his birthday. We did it at Dreamsports in Apex. It is an indoor soccer field and hockey rink. They have a soccer program there for kids and their coaches conducted the entire party. They played soccer games and ran around for about an hour before having cupcakes and opening presents. Everyone seemed to have a great time. On his actual birthday, Friday, he had a cake at school and then a cookie cake later that night. That Sunday he had cake again at his Nana and Grandpa's for that side of the family. He was very excited and was hard to control at times!

Austin is doing great in Pre-K. His only downfall is talking too much! He is doing a great job with his sight words, writing his letters and numbers, and is actually participating in art. This is a real accomplishment from the quick scribble we received last year. He is continuing to do good in soccer. He scored the first goal of their first game and then proceeded to score several more times including once in the wrong goal! He gets so excited and is an excellent cheerleader when he is not on the field. He had his 5 year check up on Friday and anyone who asks will get an ear full. He passed his hearing and eye tests for the first time at the pediatrician, did excellent during the "check up" but had a complete melt down after having his finger stuck and then having to lie on the table for the shots. He cried and cried and then proceeded to tell me that Dr Helton was pretty cool, but that nice lady in the blue shirt is not so nice and is really not cool. As we were leaving, the Doctor gave him a hug and as the nurse went to give him a high five, he turned his back to her and said they were not friends after that. He told Shane later that she really liked to give shots but he did not like getting them. Thank goodness we do not have to go back for awhile!

Caleb will be having a birthday in 2 weeks. I can't believe that I was fat as the side of a house last year this time. He is really getting a great little personality. He laughs like Woody the Woodpecker and usually has a smile on his face. He is not walking yet but pulls up on everything and cruises around pretty darn fast. We will save the rest of his news for his birthday post. Until then, stay healthy!