A First Christmas to Remember

Instead of telling you how wonderful this first Christmas was for James, we thought we would just share some photos.  We are truly blessed and will never forget this first Christmas for our baby boy.

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Q's House

Santa's Little Helper reporting for duty!

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street - a Christmas classic!

I'm in my jammies, ready for Santa!

Christmas Morning - Santa was Here!!

I'm going to spend A LOT of time on my new music table!

Lucy got a new Lamb chop toy - Lambie!!!

Oh, hello Rudolph!

James LOVED the box Mommy's new cutting board came in.

A new necklace for Mommy - Thank you James!

Looks like James was a good boy...

... and Lucy was a good girl!

Lots of great loot this Christmas!

Christmas Day with the Quartuccio's!!

James in a roasting pan - kid loves siting in odd places.

Time to open presents!

Lucy is always in the middle of the chaos.

Mommy and Daddy upping their fashion game.

Opening presents is exhausting!

 Toot Toot Beep Beep!!!

Post Christmas Dinner with the Quartuccio's!!!

What? 

Happy Faces

Playtime with Aunt June and Uncle Billy

Cousins!!!

You kinda look like Grandpa, but something is missing.

Family Portraits

Opening Gifts with Grandma Mangiaracina!!

James wanted to climb on the box more than he wanted to open it.

Baby's first fire engine!

A full collection of the Land of Misfit Toys ornaments!

Na na na na na na na na BATMAN!!!

Yes.  That is a 5 pound bar of Hershey's chocolate.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A Christmas Miracle

So technically the miracle did not happen until December 26th, but we are saying it counts.  What is this Christmas miracle that I speak of?  Check it out:

That's right.  Our little man put two and two together and finally clapped his hands on his own.  He and I have been practicing for weeks and he decided to pull it off while at the dining room table in front of us, all the Grandparents, Aunt Suzy and the Connecticut Quartuccio's - Uncle Billy, Aunt June and Cousin Michael.  We were all so excited ~ I actually cried. :)  The best part was how proud he was of himself.  Now he loves to clap all the time and he receives the same type of oohhh and ahhhs every time. :)

It's Never Good When Daycare Calls

It was 1:30 pm on a Monday afternoon. I was on the phone with my boss when the call waiting started to beep.

Willowcreek Academy.

It was James' daycare. And you know a call from daycare in the middle of the day is not good news.  I quickly clicked over and heard the Director on the other side of the phone tell me that James had a 104.1 fever and that I needed to get there ASAP.

104.1

That was the only thing that I heard.

Of course I grabbed my keys, raced to the car and flew to grab James.  Luckily, the daycare center is just 3 minutes away so he was in my arms within 5 minutes.  I couldn't believe how warm he was and how quickly it came on.  He was screaming (naturally) and I did all I could to make him comfortable.

We were at the doctor 30 minutes later where she confirmed pretty much nothing.  Ears were fine.  Lungs were fine.  His throat was red, but that was all she saw.  She said it was viral so she sent us home with instructions to administer Motrin every 6 hours to bring the fever down and make him comfortable.

The minute we got home, I gave him the meds and laid him on my chest.  He passed out immediately.

Over the course of the next 5 days his fever went up and down.  He developed lots and lots of congestion and a wicked cough that kept him (and us) up at night.  We spent lots of time in a steamy bathroom to help him breathe and we've used lots of saline drops to soothe his nose.

By Saturday morning, he was no longer taking his bottle or any other form of liquids and did not have a wet diaper in 8 hours.  It was off to the hospital we went.  We saw nurses and doctors, had a chest x-ray and dined on some Pedialyte.  After 4 hours we left with a prescription for amoxicillan for his double ear infection and instructions to keep him hydrated and comfortable so that the RSV does not get worse.

It amazes me how hard this virus has hit him and how it has completely disrupted our lives.  We had to take days off from work that weren't planned and had to get used to sleeping in 2-3 hour shifts - similar to when he was first born.

But through all this mayhem, there has been 1 silver lining.  We got to slow down and snuggle with our little man.  All he wants to do is lay on us or next to us and snooze.  And that is all right in our book.  We are hoping that this nasty virus leaves our house soon - especially since Santa is expected.  But we do hope that our snuggly little guy sticks around.

All I Want for Christmas...

Today James had the pleasure of meeting the big man in red - Santa Claus! It was exciting for all of us and I'm happy to report that Santa did not scare the ba-geezzus out of James.  :)

In an effort to stay sane, we decided to avoid the Santa lines over the weekend.  Both Ed and I had an extra day to burn before the new year so we thought why not have a family day today. With all of my recent travel and Ed working weekends we started to feel a little disconnected.  Spending the day together cured that!

We began the day with breakfast at IHOP.  Since James' day started a bit earlier, his IHOP experience was more about dreams than about pancakes.

After cleaning up and dressing in our finest, we headed to Fair Oaks to meet the big guy.  Of course, by the time we got there, Santa was on break.  We killed time with some last minute Christmas shopping and then joined the small line that started to form.  This year, the Santa photo theme is based on the most recent Ice Age movie.  The setting was cute and sure did keep some of the older kids occupied as we waited for Santa to return from lunch.

Finally Santa made an appearance and it was time to meet the man of the hour!  There was a bit more waiting.  Actually a lot more waiting.  Apparently Moms are really particular as to how their kids should look in their Santa pictures.  From what I remember when I was kid, you sat on his lap, told him what you wanted, they took a picture and off you went.  I guess times have changed.

James (and Ed and I) started getting very antsy in line so we decided the tickle monster had to make an appearance. And since our little man is all about exploring these days, we put him close to the floor which brought on the smiles.

Finally it was our turn!  The nice little Elf-lady gave us some newbie advice: execute the Drop and Run technique.  Apparently, the best thing to do with little ones is to drop them slowly in Santa's lap while having them face you and quickly make your way back to the camera without losing eye contact.  It was good advice because IT WORKED!!  We are happy to report that we don't have the "Screaming Kid with Santa Photo" but instead the "Contented Kid with Santa Photo".

Even though there was no smile, we were pretty pleased with the outcome.  And look at that Santa - he's one good looking guy!  We removed James from Santa's lap before he realized who was holding him and quickly told him what we wanted for Christmas this year.  James has been an exceptionally good boy and I believe that Santa will bring him everything he wants! :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

James' Monthly Photo Project: Nine Months

James is 9 months old today.  Woah.  He cooked for 9 months in my belly and he has successfully grown for 9 months outside of it.  James is a VERY active little man with LOTS of personality.  It's amazing how much he has changed over the 9 months he's been with us - and we know there are many more changes to encounter.  :)

We once again have a slew of milestones to report:

• This kid has mastered crawling.  He is into everything which means the house is baby proofed as best it can be.  He really loves following Lucy around the house.  She's not so into it, but as a loving big sister, she lets him.

• With the help of Daddy, James is learning how to climb stairs.  He made it about half way up with a spot from Dad and continues to want to try. I think we created a monster.

• We have been introducing the sippy cup and he seems to be liking it.  He can grab it, put it up to his mouth and drink...kinda.  :)  It seems that he likes to teethe on it and throw it to the ground more than anything.  It's a work in process.

• He had his second hair cut at Cartoon Cuts this month.  His beautiful head of hair receives lots and lots of compliments...especially from the ladies.  

• James has become quite the Chatty Cathy lately.  He babbles all the time - so much so that it seems like he is having a conversation using his own little language.  Sometimes he sounds like those little guys from Spaceballs - he loves saying "daydaydaydayday".

• We have 4 more teeth cutting through and causing major chaos.  All of the incisors are coming in and according to Doctor Killian, it looks like there is some swelling going on in the back of his mouth which means some molars are starting to wake up.  Thank God for Tylenol!!

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY JAMES!!