Merry Christmas ... Better Late Than Never

Christmas has come and gone, and it's been weeks since I last posted here. We managed to have Influenza A run through our house, taking out Teddy, followed by Dave, then AJ with me on the tail end. Add in the business of bakery in the height of the holiday, plus our own holiday gatherings, and it was quite the December.

We wrapped up our illnesses and bakery baking the week prior to Christmas. We enjoyed a few holiday traditions: checking out Christmas light displays, decorating cookies, making our family favorites, spending time with Christmas and hanging out with Santa at every opportunity.

One of the joys of Christmas is Teddy's joy in Santa. He loves Santa. He gets so excited every time he sees Santa and loves to visit with him. Before COVID, he was just starting to come into his own with Santa, loving him from a distance but still wanting to keep his distance. He was fascinated by him, but he wasn't comfortable being close for any amount of time. 

Now he'd spend all the time with Santa that he could. He asks to visit Santa again, even after his time/turn is done. He lucked out this season with 3 different Santas to visit.

We stumbled upon Santa at Cabelas and were able to sneak in for a visit, even though we didn't have a reservation. The picture turned out great, even though our boys clearly weren't dressed for a Santa visit. After our turn, Teddy asked to go back to see Santa, but he didn't get that second visit and settled for watching Santa instead.

He also got to see Santa at a Sibshop event. That's where he did get to visit Santa twice. He got his turn with Santa and freaked out with happiness. At the end of the event, when they were leaving, he saw Santa again and freaked out all over again. So he got a second turn to sit on Santa's lap, and he loved the second visit as much as the first.

More often than not, Teddy is looking and smiling at Santa. This is a great picture!

He  got to see Santa at the farmer's market two different times. Last but not least he got to see Santa at his last adapted gym class. Oddly enough, that Santa knew his name and that he's sometimes naughty at school ... perhaps because that Santa is married to his paraprofessional. He loves to visit Santa in every form and fashion, and we love seeing his joy in Santa.

What's interesting is that Teddy loves Santa because he loves Santa. He doesn't associate Santa with presents as best as we can tell. He just finds joy in Santa, and we find joy in that.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, filled with family and the joy of the season.

 

Well, that was a Fluke ...

Nope, it was just the flu. And by just, I mean, influenza A kicked Teddy's butt. And then Dave's butt. And then AJ's butt. 

Gosh, this feels a lot like my post about COVID last month where I said that I was hoping I wouldn't catch it but felt the impending doom.

It's always tough to know what's wrong with Teddy, whether he's hungry, crabby or not feeling well. I got home late from work last week Wednesday, and he switched from happy to mopey instantly. Neither Bri or I could figure out what was up, and he even went upstairs to his bedroom alone while we ate a treat, which is unheard of. When I went upstairs to give him a bath and actually put him to bed, he snuggled into me and then promptly covered me in vomit. *Ugh*

The poor kid vomited a total of 4 times before morning, developed a fever and started coughing overnight. My gut told me it was the flu (since he just had COVID), and my gut was right. 

He requested a bath this weekend and made all the bubbles!

Given that Dave spent the night with him (and every night since then), it's not surprising that he went down over the weekend. And AJ and Teddy have no personal space boundaries, so both Dave and AJ tested positive Sunday morning. 

Thankfully Teddy was well enough to return to school today, and he was very excited for that! I'm also very grateful that Sigrid was willing to mask up and watch the boys a few hours Saturday afternoon while Dave and I took in Aladdin in masks since we had tickets (and I'm so glad we made it because it was a fabulous show!). 

One would think that between COVID last month and the flu this month, one would think we might get to stay healthy through the holidays. But I won't curse us, and I'll just keep washing my hands and waiting until well past everyone is contagious in my house before I come within 6 feet of them without a mask. ;-)

Tis the Season

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

One of Teddy's favorite things about the holiday season is that we bring ladders into the house to decorate. And he loves ladders! He's gotten much better about safely coming down ladders versus simply letting us catch him. He's also gotten much better about taking turns, letting us actually do our work and then taking his own turn simply to play.

Teddy is part mountain goat!

More Christmas and holiday adventures to come!

So Much to Be Grateful For

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving with Dave's family up north. We are abundantly blessed and it was (mostly) wonderful to have the cousins together. 

Teddy was a bit excited to be up north with his cousins. 

It's not easy taking Teddy places, even within our families where they know, understand and love Teddy. Most places, aside from our home, are not Teddy proof. There's breakable things, doors don't have all the locks and there's things simply not appropriate for Teddy. 

So visits other places require extra supervision, hovering like helicopter parents more often than not. Additionally, Teddy is, quite simply, a lot. He's a lot for us to manage and support, and he's a lot for his cousins because they're not used to Teddy barging into their space, perhaps stealing their food and playing in his way which sometimes means destroying their creations. 

The cousins spent quite a bit of time playing together wonderfully, and there were periods where minimal supervision was needed. There were also the stressful moments, the tears and the short tempers (me included as an adult). 

But Teddy had a blast. And AJ had a wonderful Thanksgiving. and absolutely loved spending a few extra days with his grandparents and hanging out with his cousins.  And we got to spend time with family and even enjoy a walk in the woods without chasing Teddy. Again, so much to be thankful for.