A Potatoes Thanksgivng

We had a wonderful first Thanksgiving as a family of four!

I had the 18lb turkey cooking by 7 a.m. before Leaha and I went for a run.  When I got back, Daniel took on Potato play while I got to work on all the fixin's.

  

We cut no corners even though it was just us and enjoyed an awesome meal!

Potatoes like the green beans best, and was not a fan of cranberry sauce! He covered his face with both hands after each bite I had him try.

After everyone took a little post-turkey snooze, we headed to Erick & Patti's house to hang out with friends from Daniel's work.  It was a great group.  Potatoes especially loved watching their son, Jax.  It was amazing to see Potatoes's developing play and social skills (see Milestones)!

On Friday, Daniel met up with some friends while I got to walk and hang out with Elena, who was in town for the holiday.  It may have rained on our walk and our boys both may have needed naps, but that didn't stop it from being the highlight of my Thanksgiving!  Once Potatoes woke from his much needed nap, we met up with Daniel for a little Black Friday shopping.  We scored a great deal on Pyrex!

On Saturday,  I chopped my hair off and donated 8 inches to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths non-profit.

Couldn't get the pictures in the right order, so here's After & Before

Because Potatoes has recently delayed his morning nap time, we were able to go to church on Sunday.  We dropped him at the nursery for the first time and welcomed in the season of Advent.

Potatoes, of course, did amazing exploring the new environment, toys, and kids in the nursery, though they said he got clingy when other kids cried.  Our first born, however, did not do so well. Zoey did not appreciate being left behind, and got into a bag of grapes while we were at church.

As grapes can cause kidney failure in dogs, I gave her peroxide to get her to throw up (so many unchewed grapes...yuck!) and then headed to the doggy hospital.  Two hours and an IV of fluids later (as well as a hefty bill), we headed home with her blood work looking great, and orders to keep her hydrated.  They wanted to do an overnight IV but I was worried that would be too traumatic for our anxious little princess.  Thankfully, she looks great today.

MILESTONES

Xander hit a lot of milestones over the break!

He stood up without holding onto anything and stayed standing for a few seconds three times!  As soon as I pull out a camera, though, the moment is over.

He is adding to his sign language repertoire, with 'up' and beginning to differentiate between 'milk' and 'eat.'

At Patti's he had his first true social imitation, copying Jax by crawling onto an ottoman and jumping into a huge pile of pillows.  This is so hard to teach, so I was thrilled to watch him do this independently!

Ear Infections and Big Fun

Our poor little guy has officially been sick with something since mid-October without a day of respite.  Between Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease, two colds, and now an ear infection, this little guy is really working to build his immune system!

Snuggled up in his super soft outfit from Grandmama

On Friday, Leaha messaged me at work that he was inconsolable, and pulling at a very red and hot ear.  I called the pediatrician but they had no appointments, and suggested I go to the ER.  I had no interest in spending another 3+ hours in the ER like we did for HFMD, and the doctor at Daniel's work has been spreading the word that he is a family practitioner and eager to assist when the member's family has medical needs.  Daniel's commander passed my phone number along and Doc Thomas called me in just a few minutes!  He said to bring Xander in whenever I could.  At first, Doc Thomas suggested we wait to see if Xander was still fussy Saturday, and then start antibiotics.  Once he had looked in the ear that had been bothering little man, though, he said to go ahead and start the meds asap.  On Saturday, he started pulling at the other ear, too, so I'm afraid it's actually a double ear infection.  I am praying the seven days of antibiotics will push all the funk out of him and he'll be 100% by Thanksgiving.

Despite a sick boy, the weekend was lots of fun for the Martin adults!

On Saturday morning, I was able to participate in a Spouse's Flight and had a crazy cool experience in a plane.  I will let the pictures tell the story...

Yes, that is me sitting with my legs dangling out of an airplane over the ocean... what?!?!

Saturday evening, Leaha took on Potatoes duty and Daniel and I enjoyed delicious hibachi before going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  I love J.k. Rowling and was super excited.  It did not disappoint!  Daniel said he liked it better than Harry Potter.  I loved it, but don't know that I could go that far.

In addition to my action packed Saturday, I got to spend half of Sunday with one of my very favorite people. Shorna is spending this week at a nearby beach with one of her clients and his family (she is an in home caregiver), and she came to our house on her way!  It was simply amazing to get to hangout with her!!!  She hasn't seen Xander since he was 2 months old because she was out of town when Daniel and I last went to Atlanta.  He was a little timid at first, but Shorna has the ability to charm anyone, especially babies, and Xander was quickly soaking up her beautiful Jamaican accent.  I completely forgot to take a picture, but we are going to try to get together again before she heads home, so I WILL remember to snap a photo then!

Potatoes has been on his medicine for 36 hours now, so we both have to go back to the grind tomorrow.  Per usual, other than his sleep schedule, being sick doesn't seem to keep this little bugger down too much!

Milestones:

Potatoes is gearing up for walking despite being sick.  He stood independently for about 3 seconds while playing with Daniel just before he turned 11 months.  He also uses everything that will slide as a walker to help him get around- including his pack n play and his stand up piano.  Look out world, here he comes!

Eleven Months Old!

At eleven months old, Xander is only a month away from his first birthday!

Time sure flies!

This little guy is still go, go, go.

He has been sick since before Halloween with first HFMD and then multiple colds back to back.  I took him to the doctor again, just to be sure this isn't progressing into something more serious.  They said it is definitely just a cold, but that it was good to have gotten him checked.

Despite a hacking cough and a runny nose, Potatoes is a real trooper.  He is still extremely energetic and playful, but he does hate having his nose cleaned!

His sleep is off with all the congestion, so he has been waking up multiple times during the night.  His naps are pretty regular, but he is wanting to be rocked to sleep at nap time.

Playing during daddy time.  Zoey was totally complacent!

He LOVES his robot from Christian!  He always presses the microphone button and then looks at Daniel and me for us to say something.

At school, they are getting him ready for the one year old room.

In order to transition, he must be eating table food, wearing shoes and walking, off the bottle and on sippy cups exclusively, and napping on a mat (though he can transition while still learning to do this one).  The only one he currently has is table food.  We are working on the others.  I will really miss Ms. Celia and Ms. Lisa, but I know he will enjoy the fact that the one year olds go to the playground.

He still loves yogurt, but always wants whatever we are eating or drinking.

He is very good at one sign, and uses it for EVERYTHING (the sign for 'eat').

On October 27th, our dear friends Karlee and Jonathan welcomed this gorgeous bundle of sweetness, Brighton Olivia.  It has been so great to see a tiny little one!

Xander came with me to participate in the election.  I cannot believe this beautiful boy will be five when we vote again!