Last night we ventured out for the first time since last Tuesday when we were told that Chris ought to stay away from other kids and at risk adults in the event he had Whooping Cough. We went to Target. It felt so nice to get out, fresh air, other people. Chris was not as enthusiastic as we, but he was in a good mood once we got inside. He was very excited that the purpose of our visit was to buy him sheets. He’d received Target the gift card for Christmas and we were cashing it in for a Big Boy Twin Size sheets….in Lightning McQueen, if we could find them. We did, flannel Cars sheets with Lightning McQueen on them. It brought him great joy.

Though not as much joy as when we went to refrigerated food section to pick up sour cream. Mommy asked Daddy if we should pick up more honey flakey biscuits, which was our breakfast on Christmas and New Year’s, a breakfast Chris actually ate along with us! Chris was like “I want Bistits!” OK, we bought more biscuits. While Eric was putting groceries from cart to car, I was putting Chris in his carseat. I asked him if he wanted to go out for dinner. “No. I wanna go home.” OK. There was only a moment’s pause when, “I want bistits.” For dinner? I sat down in the front seat, and laughed and laughed. When Eric got in the car, I was re-telling the tale, and he asked Chris, you want biscuits? “Yes, I want bistits.” (The way he says biscuits is hysterical and adorable!) I said, Seriously. From the back seat. “Seeyasly.” OK. And Yes, he got a biscuit for dinner. And I laughed all the way home.

Now, in other serious news, we still don’t have the official results of Christopher’s Whooping Cough Test! Well, let me tell you, I got a little serious myself with the doctor’s office this morning when I put my call in. First, I kept him home today from his First Day of Developmental Preschool. So, to the doctor’s office I mentioned that, and how I was quite curious about these results. They explained how they sent to the state, like Eric hadn’t already told me that. So I said, Well, yes, but I have an appointment at Riley today and I NEED to know if I’m allowed to take my son out of the house! That was slight exaggeration, as I was already planning on attending that appointment regardless, because when I called to try to reschedule, they told me first available was May. So, we were going, if I had to stop for a mask at the guard station to do so. But to Dr. C’s office, they said we were ok to go to Riley. Since he’s finished his course of antibiotics, he should theoretically not be contagious anymore. So, then I asked about Preschool? They agreed, provided he’s not having coughing spells where he turns colors, which he’s not, hasn’t in days. He’s only coughed like 3 times all day today and they were quick coughs. So, the boy is going to go to school in the morning! And he’s going to start his new preschool on Wednesday. Hot Dog!

So, then we went to the Riley appointment. This was with Dr. M, the GI specialist. I like her. She was like, his belly feels good, he’s happy (which he was), he’s not complaining of pain, things are looking good. Chris probably would’ve been thrilled that she took our word that his bottom looked good, so she didn’t do a rectal exam, knowing how closely that region is being examined by Dr. West. She also has a calm demeanor. The only bummer was that Chris’s weight was down, to an all time fast drop down to 24 pounds, 10 ounces, which is like the loss of 12 ounces in a month. But, he hasn’t been eating solid food for the better part of 2 weeks, he’s only begun drinking his 3 milks day (or “cocoa”, we call it when we add chocolate, for some reason cocoa goes down better than milk this last week) within the last 4 days. Anyway, she could’ve wanted to do something drastic, but she didn’t. She says he doesn’t have any ‘good leads’, all his symptoms aren’t really indicative of anything. For example, traditional allergic reactions have rashes or vomiting, or diarrhea. He has some diarrhea but he’s on a daily laxative that stops if we stop it, and he hasn’t puked since October. He could be just tiny, goodness knows I’m not, but my sister is and Eric used to get teased when he was young about being small. So, she opted for something a little different. Our nutritionist will be thrilled, she was suggesting it a year ago, a drug called Peri-actin. It’s technically an anti-histamine, but with the great side effect of appetite stimulation. Dr. M has had great results with it, and wants to give it a go. The only problem is that sometimes, there’s the side effect of drowsiness. So, we’re going to wait until this weekend for him to get used to his new school, before drugging him. (My initial objection to school 5 days a week was that it would exhaust him, so I think that drugging him and sending him at the same time might be a bit much.) She was tickled by Chris, going for her stethoscope, and his ease at saying Ahhh. It’s nice, non-invasive appointments like these that make Chris at ease at the doctors office. I like having this kind of Riley visit, where no pain is inflicted. It’s like a record, that’s two consecutive visits that have been easy on him.

I wish it was as easy on me. Feeding Team is not going to be happy about the weight loss, we see them later this week. Though I’ve emailed them a warning it’s coming. I knew he was losing weight because I’ve noticed how skinny he is while naked, I can count every rib, and he feels bony when I pick him up. It’s disturbing. I keep looking at his skinny self and it makes me sad. But Chris knows I think, I was looking at him this afternoon, we were having our post-nap cuddles and playing snowmen, his new favorite game, and I was thinking, how skinny you are, your clothes just hang on you. I didn’t say anything, but he just looked at me and said “I fine.” Odd. A. That he knew what I was thinking, and knew just what to say and B. That him telling me he’s fine is so comforting.

This evening, as Eric was at church, I had my turn at doing bathtime. Normally, that’s quality boy time, so Mommy is usually out of the groove, and last time Chris cried at me. But this time, I asked him if he wanted some toys. He alternated between yes and no when I offered him his elephant cup. But when I asked if he wanted a flute, he said Yes! Then he took it, and pushed it under water, and the air bubbles within tooted to the surface. I asked him, do flutes toots? Oh he thought that was hysterical! He laughed and laughed. Flutes Toots! Toots Flutes Toots. 10 good minutes putting that pipe under the water and listening to bubbling fart noises. Such a boy! And the laughing. Oh, I love his laugh, with his cold it’s been a bit more gravelly than usual, now it’s improving. He just kept laughing and laughing. When the novelty of the Flutes Toots began to wear off, I took his elephant cup and put it on my head. Hat! We giggled. Then I gently leaned forward, and it went crashing to the floor. Chris laughed so hard that he started to roll backward. Started to lose his balance actually and his arms flailed out to balance himself before he completely fell back in the water. That was almost funnier than the cup falling off my head. And we both laughed harder, surely both of our stomach muscles hurt. He just kept laughing so hard he’d wobble back. And I just laughed so hard I cried.

I hate waiting.

Whatever this illness is, now Eric and I have it. It's our turns to be snotty messes with chunky coughs, but frankly, the coughing spells don't turn us colors. So, I'm leaning heavily towards "it's not whooping cough" but going with Dr. C's original thoughts that it's some "viral crud". But I'm not willing to bet the health of harmless preschoolers on my hunch.

So, we stay inside. We debated going to the store today, but Eric's still feeling pretty down, so we stayed in. On the up side, I've discovered some really adorable things that Chris says. When he was coughing bad, I'd ask him if he'd want some Pittypats, which are gentle beatings on the back and shoulderblades that we used to do on my sister (the asthmatic) when she was little. Chris calls them "Pia-pats." Most of the time, he'll say "No. No Piapats", but sometimes, if he's feeling really crummy (which has NOT been in the last 3 days) he'll let me give them. I've also found that when we curl up on the bed to cuddle, I can't decipher if he's asking for cuddles or covers when he says "Tolos", so we do both. And it makes Mommy want to sleep so bad. Yesterday, I laid down on his sleeping bag bed I was so tired as I watched him play, and he proceeded to cover me up, read me a story (all by himself!), kiss me "doonight", turn off the light, and tap the music on the aquarium for me. He came back in 2 seconds later, "Doo Morneen!" Apparently 2 seconds is all the nap Mommy gets.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe this boy. He's supposed to be sick! He's not feeling so sick that he doesn't pull on Mommy and Daddy and drive us a bit crazy. Last night, we put him to bed at 8:30, and Mommy and Daddy were planning on an exciting evening of snacking on frozen appetizers while watching movies. This boy woke up at 11:30, and was receptive to the idea of coming downstairs to "keep us company". We stopped our movie, inappropriate for boys, and watched Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve. We are so out of the groove, we knew none of the music or bands. Chris, however, was hypnotized, and eagerly watched the Ball Drop. Funny how both Daddy and Mommy move to kiss Chris for our first New Year's kiss instead of each other. How times change. It was odd to be home just the 3 of us on New Year's, quiet, and yet, quite nice. Then we all went upstairs, read, Rooster Can't Cock-A-Doodle-Doo and went to bed. The boy slept until 8. He's been acting like he feels just fine, he's just got a chunky cough, and a runny nose, not anything extreme that screams "whooping cough" to us. We are due to find out if he's got the cooties on Saturday. But for now we remain in isolation. No going out to play for us, but plenty of Veggie Tales and Horton, and his Christmas toys are getting lots of play. And Chris is thrilled with the endless chain of Pajama Days.

Chris got a cold. So we thought. He lost his voice late Christmas Eve, and started having the snoochies (lots of snot) and coughing on Christmas Day. By Friday, he was fair miserable, and spent Aunt Erica's birthday dinner crying in our arms. He didn't sleep much in the night this past weekend, but it seemed by Sunday he was feeling better. He wasn't as clingy, sure he'd cough periodically, but he seemed to be feeling better.

We were supposed to go to Chicago for a day trip Monday, and meet friends, but they called Sunday to cancel, apparently they all 3 had cooties similar to Chris. Then yesterday, they called again, Chris's girlfriend had been preliminarily diagnosed with Whooping Cough. I was like, sheesh! Chris certainly wasn't Whooping, he was just having bad coughing spells. I thought Chris was on the mend. Poor Ems was coughing to the point of puking. But I wasn't worried, at least, until I started reading up on it. Chris's coughing spells fit the bill; they were random, he was pretty much fine in between, but they were so bad he started turning colors.

So we ran into Dr. Cooper's this morning. Chris had "junky" lungs, and ironically his ears were red. Baby's 1st Ear Infection. Of all his illnesses, ears were one he'd never had a problem with, but oddly enough, yesterday he did tell me his ears hurt. He said that to diagnose Whooping Cough requires a nasal swab culture, that has to grow for like a week. We went down the street to the lab for that test, poor Chris, oh how he hated that, but it was quick. He couldn't do that test in the office, but he could give us the script, for azithromax (z-pack), which is the standard treatment. He also told us to "avoid high risk people" for 5 days. High risk people are like other kids or grandparents. I'm like, ok, New Year's at home then. But Eric figured this also meant no going to the zoo or anything else fun that we were going to do this week. So, we're in isolation. Chris doesn't seem to mind, he got to watch Wall-E and Veggie Tales today, and get Hot Cocoa (Toto). As a reward for his good boyhood during getting sticks shoved up his nostrils and swirled aroudn as Mommy and Daddy held him down, we got him some Hot Cocoa and Mommy and Daddy got festive beverages from Beanzies, which we discovered to be a groovier coffee shop than the Bucks. Chris is a big fan of the child size Hot Cocoa, he'll down it much faster than his "milk". I just hope it doesn't disagree with his system. But he hasn't been eating much, so whatever we can get into him, be it cake or hot cocoa, so be it.

As for the Whooping Cough. We don't know for sure he's got it. He's got something, or his ears wouldn't be red. Dr. Cooper hopes it's "viral crud" and an ear infection. But we're on an antibiotic, which should last us our 5 days of isolation. And to answer questions, YES, Chris was immunized. He's up to snuff on all his vaccinations. Mommy and Daddy probably could have stood to have a booster for pertussis (whooping cough) which they've recently put in the tetanus shot cocktail. But it's a bit too late for that now. We're waiting to see if Chris has it before we start getting drugged and shot up ourselves. If it is Whooping Cough, we pray that Chris will fall into that category of milder cases, because of his vaccinations. That would be a plus.

So, this evening, as our festive celebrations reached the end with a birthday party for my sister in law, Chris fell apart. He screamed and cried through dinner as he has not done in quite some time. We gave him drugs, it didn’t help. We ended up high-tailing it out of there, and driving home. We thought he may be coming down with some sort of something, a cold maybe, since within the last 24 hours he started coughing and getting a runny nose, but he could just be long term sleep deprived. 2 minutes in the car, and he was out. After the power nap he got on the way home, he still seemed fussy until we got into the house, until he beheld the pile of opened presents. We’ve slowly and surely been chipping away at putting things from the pile away, but today was a mostly pajama day, and there was more playing than putting away. We sure have been blessed with lots of family who like to give, our living room is overflowing, just like ”…and a partridge in a pear tree.” Oddly enough, that’s become one of Chris’s new favorite Christmas songs. He noted as we were getting in the car the other day the music, and called out “Pear Tree!” It was in the middle of a verse, but he KNEW the song. He’s getting so slick like that. This morning, he asked for Wish a May Timmus song (We wish you a Merry Christmas). He’ll sing that over and over and even tell you Wish a May Timmus and a Happy New Year! Tonight, he got a second wind, and wanted a bath after his meltdown in the restaurant and on the way home. He was thrilled to bathe with some new bath toys, squirty fish for 6 month olds, ironically, a gift from his great-grandmother. He played in the tub for an HOUR! I got caught up on my email, and came upstairs as the pajamafication was occurring. I called to Eric, That sure is Some Boy that doesn’t feel good, who was screaming his head off 2 hours ago who just played in the tub for an hour. Chris turned to me, smiled, pointed to his chest, “I’m Tris (Chris), I a Sweetboy!”

I can’t deny it. It’s true. I didn’t prompt him to say he was sweetboy, or even train him to say that. It’s just a nickname I’ve called him forever. Not only is he a sweetboy, but he really has been one all week. We’ve been able to play with all branches of the family over the last couple weeks, the last few days especially. We did birthday celebrations earlier in the month, but then beginning Saturday we drove up to Marion for the extended family Willman Family Christmas in Marion. Chris did much better this drive, but he started pooping out early and we made it home in time for a small restful nap. We had his birthday party on Sunday, and his friends and family came out to play. Monday, we had a boatload of doctor’s appointments, for us, for him. His 3 year checkup was thrilling actually. Nothing happened. He weighed in at 25 pounds, 6 ounces. That’s the same as Dr. West’s but a different scale. It was refreshing to have his pediatrician asking Why is he here? What am I doing? Oh, nothing? Merry Christmas. No shots, no procedures. It’s appointments like that, I hope that will get Chris to enjoy his doctors, and not to fear them. I don’t mind that kind at all. Tuesday, Chris went to the Children’s museum to see Santa, and all the holiday festivities, with his friends Emily and Bryn and their families. For the first time, he did NOT freak out at Santa, and just sat on his lap, talking to him and smiling, totally worth Mommy's 1 hour wait, while Daddy and all the kids played.

Christmas Eve, we had Willman family Christmas, and Chris got to play with his cousins, and his new toys, until we were all ready to drop. He got a dragon with flying wings that scares Mommy, which he just adores. Another of which was a camera just for Chris, and let me just say , we may have make a new family rule of NOT Having cameras in the bathroom. Unfortunately, that would probably have to go for Mommy too, and she doesn’t know if she can handle not taking pictures or videos of babies (or big boys) in bathtubs. We came home for naps, before we 3 went to the 7 and 11 o’clock services. Yes, we apparently are THOSE parents who bring exhausted toddlers to church at midnight. We’d had Pryzma family Christmas at our house in between, and made sure to keep the boy happy and awake. But we had a reason, the church had just gotten their new bells, they arrived a month early, and we were able to pull together a small group of volunteers, including Mommy and Daddy to play them, the inaugural performance being on Christmas Eve. We kind of considered the pulling together of everything to get it a small Christmas miracle, and Chris was just going to have to be there for it. And so he was. The amazing thing was how good of a boy he was during the services. The early service he got to sit with Nana, and Chris had a great time. He seemed so proud of us, pointing and playing, and we were so proud of him, we had a great view of him. Later we thought it might be bad, he was playing with a college student friend of ours, Meghan, who came prepared with a teddy bear and books, and we watched from the choir loft as Chris played smiley tag with us, ran around his pew, and yawned… A Lot! We thought he’d go to sleep or throw a full out body fit, requiring us to go running from the pews to get him, but no, when the bells played, he pointed at us, MY MOMMY, MY DADDY! Just when we thought he’d conk out on the way home, he got his umpteenth wind and wanted a bath and played for 45 minutes in the tub, (a common theme?), thus not getting to bed until 1:30 a.m.

I WILL say that made our Christmas morning less stressful, having a boy, who slept in until 10:45 a.m. when the choo choo train around the tree and our brunch preparations finally woke him. We took a leisurely 2 ½ hours to open presents, first from Santa then from Mommy and Daddy. He wanted to play with each present as he opened them. We had time for that. The big hit present of the morning being a plastic guitar, “My Tee-a-tar!” He loves it, and plays it, totally rocking out, and growling, “I seen a song and play a tee-a-tar”, just like any rocker. After lunch, we thought he was getting a bit tired, and he was, he slept for 2 more hours. Eric pointed out, his normal routine would’ve been to sleep for 12 hours at night, AND get a nap, so the fact, he slept for 9 then another 2 isn’t that crazy. The Bagg Family extended Christmas was in the evening, and Chris did great once again. I think his favorite toy there was Uncle James who was jumping him across the room in single bounds, “Uh James, Try Again!” was heard frequently. I don’t think he needed to “try again”, he was doing just fine, but he got quite a workout.

As usual Chris has been a champ. The hours he’s been keeping would push anyone over the edge. (Wouldn’t be the only one.) Since we moved him into his “Big Boy Room” he’s not been sleeping consecutively through the night. Last night was the best, as he went from 10-7 and only cried out a couple times, for the first time not requiring us to go in and get him, but then again, when we retrieved him in the morning, he was laying in front of his bookshelf. He even took his blanket with him. I guess that’s a great perk to having him start out on an air mattress, if he falls out of bed, he just rolls around. The last few nights have been rough, he’d be up for a couple hours, crying out to us, wanting us to hold his hand as he drifted off to sleep. He’s been saying he’s scared, “Stared”, when we ask of what, he’ll either not reply, but once we heard “monsters”. But we have established the monsters aren’t residing in his room. They say that 3 is the age when the imagination starts really getting going, and that when that happens, they start to have vivid dreams…and nightmares. We wonder if he’s dreaming about Monsters. The other night, I sat there singing “God is bigger than the boogey man, he’s bigger than Godzilla, or the monsters on tv” for a half an hour. That Veggie Tales song was a big one for Chris’s cousin Lexi too, there for a while. Didn’t seem to help, he was up again an hour later. The crummy thing, is now that Chris is on an air mattress on the floor, it is so much more difficult for an increasingly pregnant mommy to get down to him. In the nursery, I had a toychest to sit on if he wanted to hold hands, not so much now. I tried to lay in the bed with him, once, he yelled at me. Luckily, Daddy is in great shape to get on the floor. We got to the point where we said we were going to just let him cry it out. And we tried, but I couldn’t do it. I ended up sitting outside his bedroom door, saying I’m here, I’m here, then moving to the couch, where he could still hear me, at least I think he could. We’ve tried a heater, now he’s got the humidifier, seems to be helping. Then again, he could just be so tired, what with not sleeping and all the socializing that has been going on by day, that now he just sleeps. He sleeps and so must we.

Today our boy turned 3. He really is a Big Boy. I could spend lots of time talking about what we've been up to the last week or so, but I think that will just have to wait until later. Today, Chris turned 3. That is eventful enough to warrent it's own story.

We did not make it to church today. We had the lofty goal of attending, but while Mommy and Daddy were nearly ready to go, Chris didn't roll out of bed until just after 8. Too late for the 8:15, and with a birthday party planned for after an early nap, going to a later service wasn't likely. It was important he be home to get his nap, especially when we had so much excitement planned. So he trudged out and was thrilled to open up his Birthday Pig present, the Pig is to bring your "heart's desire" in this case, Chris was given a roll of miniature plastic dinosaurs. He was thrilled. He actually thanked the stuffed pig sitting with the present without being prompted. We also broke out his Birthday Elmo, who sings Happy Birthday. It's a good thing he only comes out once a year, because it got annoying fast. But Chris was thrilled with the Elmo and the dinosaurs. He keeps asking us what is it, he knows they are dinosaurs, but he loves to try to practice their names: pteradactyl, triceratops...many of which we don't know. We're going to have to get better on our dinosaurs.

Only stopping for a minute to play with his dinosaurs, who were having a fine time visiting Baby Jesus in our pocket nativity, when we had some waffles for breakfast. Chris's favorite. He requested. Then came the big Reveal! We have been working tirelessly for the last two months to clear out the back bedroom, and make it a Big Boy Room for Chris. We cleared out all things that made it our spare room, and painted it, a mild shade of gray. Chris now has Eric's old dresser and nightstand, plus a rack of toy buckets, and a new bed. We've moved his clothes and some toys in, but moving all the toys will take a while. The bed made him so excited. It's actually an air mattress, equipped with a pillow section, and a sleeping bag attached. It's Lightning McQueen (from Cars) and he loved it. He immediately climbed in, and practiced playing with the zipper. He thinks one should be zipped up when inside a sleeping bag. It was cold enough today that zipped in a sleeping bag was exactly where he needed to be. He kept telling us he wanted a nap in his bed...at 10 a.m. When naptime finally neared, Daddy was vacuuming, and Chris told him in a very firm tone. Out Daddy! I want a nap. Multiple times during the day, he told us "My new room!" implying we needed to leave. In the case with Daddy he got his nap, in his new room, in his new bed. Now, it took him 45 minutes to finally fall asleep, but he did sleep in there. It was especially helpful that we moved his musical aquarium from his crib to the floor next to his bed. I accidently woke him an hour later, when I went in to take a picture of him sleeping, but since it was shortly before his birthday party, it was good that he wake up.

He really loves his room. So much so, that when his party guests arrived, Chris kept disappearing into his room, and crawling into his zippered sleeping bag. We literally had to pull him out of his room to get him to blow out the candle on his cake! It was great to have all his family here, and his best friends, but all he wanted to do was play in his new room. I'm glad he enjoys it, Daddy put a lot of work into it, but sheesh. When it came time to open presents, Bryn and Emily were much more interested in opening his presents than he was. He was slow and methodical, wanting to open and play with each present. It was hard to keep his mind on opening all of them, THEN playing with them.

Originally, we had tossed around the idea of going to Chuck E. Cheese for supper, just the three of us. When we asked Chris if he wanted to go, he said NO. He wanted to watch his new Veggie Tales Pirates Movie. So, we did. We let the birthday boy "Veg" out and watch Veggie Tales and we ordered our pizza. It was better that way, it's entirely too cold to leave the house, it's been hovering between 0-10 all day. It meant a lot that our family and friends would brave this Beastly Cold to come celebrate Chris's birthday with us. It's so exciting that he's a big 3 year old boy now. He'll even say Three when we ask him how old he is, he'll hold up the last three fingers, like saying OK, but really he's counting 3. It's cute. He's acting the typical Big Boy now too. He wants to sleep in his big boy room, in his big boy bed. He's excited to do so; his last commentary this evening was when he told me "Seep own room, own bed". Though, as I write, he's not being quiet, with so much excitement, I'm sure it will take a wee bit to calm down. Can't blame him. Indeed it has been a very good day.

Friday was better though. He didn't bug me too much about wanting to drink water. But then again, he had many other things to occupy his time. We went to our MOPS Christmas Party, and the theme was "Comfort and Joy". One of Chris's friends had brought milk to drink so Chris wouldn't be alone drinking his milk. We wore our Jammies. All of us. Chris was thrilled to wear his Jammies to Church! You never saw a boy so excited to go to church, and you should have seen him padding across the parking lot in his fleece footie pajamas and dinosaur slippers. The adults had just as much fun in their jammies, but the kids were especially thrilled to go out in public. Chris was very good. We brought his girlfriend Emily home with us, and they played sweetly for an hour, had a little lunch, and then napped. We put Chris down in the pack and play his his "new" room, nothing else is in there but the dresser, but Emily was taking the crib. So, Chris slept in his room...and slept..and slept. He took a 3 1/2 hour nap. Of course, he'd gotten no sleep the night before. It was lovely. We did a little Christmas shopping that evening, and he was thrilled to "Doh Sopping!" He's even getting helpful, in his own way.

Today, we went to church, came home and napped, as God intended for Sundays. However, this evening, Daddy surprised us. He had written "Family Thing" on the calendar, and he said we needed to leave at 4. So, at 4, we got in the car. I asked Chris if he knew where we were going, he didn't know. I said, is it a surprise? Isa surprise. We talked about our surprise all the way downtown, where we parked the car, followed other families into Conseco Fieldhouse, where we were surprised to find Disney On Ice. Chris was enthralled, mesmorized, hypnotized, in fact, downright slackjawed anytime Mickey was on the ice. He was ecstatic to see Nemo, and when he skated off, Christopher requested more. I was surprised how I've neglected his Disney movie exposure, as there were acts from a number of shows he hadn't seen, like Pinocchio and Toy Story. Mommy will have to Fix That. There was a snip about It's a Small World, during which he got a little antsy, but all in all he was great. When it ended, he wanted to go down the ice, he wanted to stay, he didn't want to leave. Who would? Mickey knows how to have a good time! He'll love DisneyWorld whenever it is we get to go. It was a great surprise, and a wonderful family outing.

Yesterday we celebrated birthdays at my Dad's house, Eric's was last week, my stepmom's this past week, and since my sister is unable to make it to Christopher's birthday party next week, she had brought her gift for Chris. Her gift stole the show. She had made Chris a book, titled Who's a Big Boy? On each page, she used pictures of Christopher. He loved it! So much so, he made everyone read the story to him. By today, he had it mostly memorized and was reading it to himself. I have to share this with you. Eric figured out a way to include the pictures. :)

Who's a Big Boy? by Lisa West

Christopher is a big boy,

and Big Boys go to school,

Big Boys exercise with Daddy,

and help Mom make cookies too!

Big Boys eat with chopsticks,

and wash the dirt away,

And Big Boys use the POTTY,

just like Spidey does each day!

The other half of her gift to Chris was the Spiderman Potty Seat. The way he reads the story, he opens up the book, and turns page after page, "Whosa Bid Boy? Ters is bid Boy. Bid boys dia stoowol. Bid Boys saya essa size with Daddy. And a Hup Mommy toot (or Stand stool). Mate em tooties! Bid boys eat em chopstits. And Washa. Dirt. Away. Bid Boys Use Em Potty. Spidey Potty! (He hasn't quite worked out the kinks of saying "Like Spidey does each day.) Christopher requested to use it today, though nothing came of it. At least he loves the present.

It's an experiment for Science. And though science may benefit, here it's not going over so well. Water has been his 1 request since we sat down to lunch after leaving the hospital. I've lost count how many Time Outs due to tantrums. He ate chicken at lunch, but snack and dinner consisted of 5 bites of apple and 2 sips of milk between meltdowns and timeouts. Good times. He wants to hold me, hold my hand, sit in my lap, then once he's all sweet and silent, he starts asking for water. Like I'll cave. Ha! I blamed Dr. West. We say, Dr. West wants you to drink your milk, when really it's Everybody. Oh well, he likes Dr. West best. If it was just me asking him to drink his milk, well, he'd never do it. My head has been ringing from the screaming. I just know he's thirsty from all the crying, but he's only drunk sips of milk. He's in such a pissy mood. Poor baby. I love him and I can't help him. Hopefully, my will is stronger than his, and he'll start drinking soon, though it's a serious contest because he is STRONG WILLED.

They said he can drink juice or water at school, you know with his peers, whatever the other kids are doing is cool. So, they said he could do that. He'll be happy about that at least. Tomorrow he has MOPS, and I'll let him have whatever they're having. You know how I mentioned he'll be going to school 5 mornings a week come January. Well, yesterday, we got to go over to see his new school, and meet his teacher. Chris couldn't say her name, he called her Mr. Toro-potty, which would not be her name. So he calls her Miss Beth. He liked her. I liked her. She's expecting, due a week after me. And, so nice, she got down on the floor to play toys with him, and talked to him, and was really great. He even reported back to Daddy and me later, that he played with a doll and gave it french fries, and played with chopsticks (that we actually tweezers, a fine motor game) with Miss Beth. I was pleased, that A. he liked the classroom, B. his teacher was super nice. They switched him to another school, Eagle, as opposed to the first Developmental Preschool we saw. This one has a more mature crowd, and Chris will be student #6. So a nice small class. And it's bright and colorful and cheery. They even have computers to play on! He doesn't get that at home even! They'll do crafts, I got to see some of the cute Christmas things his classmates were making that were drying. Lots of cutting and gluing going on this week. Again, the therapists come to him, to work with him, and his teacher will have an aide to help out. So, it will be a full house. She just gave me a little warning that she's had some complaints that the Bus Routes are a little long this year, so perhaps I may want to ask about it, and prayerfully consider bringing him. So, we shall. Meanwhile, he's due to start school January 5th. Oh, he's growing so fast.

For my first little tale, Thursday night Mommy left the boys to their own devices for a brief escape. During some evening play, Chris wanted to wear the Santa hat, as he has done ever since we unpacked it. (We can’t leave the house without it, and he often demands that Mommy wear hers too. Oh well, worse things than looking festive in December…it could be July, and I would have to comply!) He was Santa, “I Santa.” He told Daddy. So, Daddy asked, What does Santa say? Ho Ho. (Around here Santa only Hos twice, not three times) Well, moments later, Chris picked up his Santa Pooh. He’s now known as Santa Pooh, because it’s Winnie the Pooh wearing a red shirt with white accents and a Santa hat. “Iss Santa Pooh!” Yes. Eric asks, to get the boy thinking or out of curiousity I’m not sure, What does Santa Pooh say? “ Ho Ho…(he pauses to think)…Honey!”

I tell you, I can’t make this stuff up. He truly thinks these quips up on his own.

Chris has been thoroughly entertaining in the kitchen lately as he really wants to help cook. “I Took!” Wednesday we made pfeffernuss cookies (German for Pepper Nut, my great grandmother’s recipe) and Chris was a maniac. He pushed the chair over to my mixer, and stood there so enthusiastically adding ingredients. His favorite is to add things while the mixer is mixing. So far, he’s not tried to stick his fingers in there, just the spatula. But heck, I do the same thing. We didn’t have near the mess this time around with regard to the carnage of eggs like on Thanksgiving, just dry product mess. He also pretended to be Toast, since our toaster is right behind our mixer, he’d lean down and whisper, Toast, Toast, Toast….POP! And he’d “pop” up. It’s one of the things he’s been doing in his Kindermusik class, and he does it. Often. He had SO much fun helping mix the dough, but when it came to baking, he was less than enthusiastic. I gave him an oven mitt to play with, but since the trays were hot, and so were the cookies, it wasn’t as much fun. I tried Hand over Hand to have him help me remove cookies from the tray to put on the cooling rack, but he didn’t find much joy in that. The next day, I tried to involve him in Icing. But it was a messy process with just me, so I opted to let him drop cookies into the icing. He always dropped them in bottom first, and the bottom was where they needed the least icing, but Chris made sure they were covered, and Mommy would get even slimier by turning them over. But he was helping. I was happy that at least he could tell the difference between a wet cookie and a dry cookie. But definitely his favorite is making dough. Every morning for the last week, WHENEVER we’re in the kitchen, he starts trying to scoot a chair over, and these aren’t light chairs. To accommodate him, I’ve been doing even more cooking, just to keep him happy. This evening we made Christmas Corn Flake Wreaths. The base being much like a Rice Krispie Treat with marshmallows and butter, yum-o, but Chris had to help…of course. He was most content to stir the marshmallow / butter combination, he calls them, “Mosh Mow-lows”. I gave him one, to taste, I told him, so until I put them away, he kept asking me to “taste” more marshmallows, he must’ve eaten at least a dozen. Then he tapped the side of the pot, and decided it was too hot to help out any further, and spent the next 15 minutes shaking the red hots container, which was of course the VERY last step. I’m going to have to make those again, as they didn’t make as many as I thought, or rather, as many as I want to have around the house to share as well as eat.

Speaking of eating, apparently our boy is getting better at it. Friday morning, he got a good report. Turns out it was our last visit from our nutritionist, and to celebrate, Chris got a good weight report. He was up to 25 pounds, 10.5 ounces. That was a whole half pound up from last time which was 6 weeks ago! To show off, while Miss Shari was still here, he had lunch, polished off 6 chicken nuggets and a couple pfeffernuss cookies. I was glad to see it, he’s been doing 1 good meal every day or so. We haven’t been using the feeding pump, Chris has taken to crying when we break it out. We used one of our giant syringes for a while, it would shoot a couple ounces at a time, but the last time we broke it out, Chris burst into tears. So, we haven’t pumped much, however, Chris seems to be eating well. He’s been complaining his tummy hurts too. This weekend, Eric tweaked his back. Yesterday, he stayed home to go see the doctor. Around lunchtime, Eric was on the couch, sending an email to let his coworkers that he wasn’t making it in for the rest of the day. Chris kept asking, “What are you doing Daddy?” (His favorite question) So, he went up to him to give him pats on his back, then says to Daddy, “Daddy’s Back Hurts. Tris Tummy Hurts. “ It was so sad, it was like he was saying to Daddy, Yeah, I know, I know pain, my tummy hurts. So, minutes later, I was changing his diaper. He told me Tummy Hurts. I asked him to show me where. He wouldn’t. So I pointed my finger and started poking points on his tummy. Does it hurt here? No. Does it hurt here? No. Finally, he takes my finger and points to feeding tube, ever so gently tapping the top of it, and tells me Tummy Hurts. No Touch. My eyes welled up a bit, as I promised him I was all done, no more touch. Lately he’s been screaming when we change the gauzies too. I’m kind of relieved that we have an All Riley Day on Thursday, we’ll be seeing a couple of his specialists, I’d like to see and hear what they think.

On cheerier notes, Chris has been getting into the holiday spirit at school too. Today they made a construction paper reindeer with handprint antlers in school and went around calling him Reindeer Wooodof. (For Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) That seems to be his favorite song, he keeps playing it on this stuffed toy, and running around calling him Reindeea Woo-off. But when I asked him this evening if he wanted to watch Rudolph, his answer was No. He wanted to see Frosty. He is all about the Snowmen. But he likes all the Christmas things. I had to put the Nutcracker up, as he was the beneficiary of one too many clanks on the coffee table. Chris still requests his Nut Tat Ter, but Mommy is disinclined. He saw Daddy’s new background picture on the computer, which is Chris being a goof on the couch with all his Christmas stuffies. He points and tells Daddy, “Timas Friends”, Christmas friends. My favorite was when he plays with the construction paper Gingerbread man they made in school last week. He calls it “Church Wild Boy”. Eric had to translate for me, that it is actually Gingerbread Boy, because I didn’t pick up on it. Even trees are Timas Trees. We haven’t quite gotten ours out yet, we’ve been working on the back bedroom, which is coming along swimmingly. Chris enjoys playing with our broken little nativity, it’s like an open book, with wise men on one side, and the Holy Family on the other. It was cheap, and though the center is broken, he asks me regularly “Who’s that?” It’s a Wise Man. It’s Mary. It’s Baby Jesus. He’ll even say Baby Shesus. I am loving this Christmas even more than last because Chris really is seeming to enjoy it, respond to it, understand it, hopefully getting a bit more of the Meaning. Meanwhile, he’ll bring more great Christmas stories this season to come.

Few believe me that Chris can be such a beast. But today, our therapist witnessed it. She believes there's a short circuit between his processing of Questions and Answers. She thinks the multiple meltdowns thing may be a phase. That might be nice, at least there will be an end. Eric's theory is that he has forgotten the Meaning of the word No, with him not using it inappropriately, and most assuredly not listening when we use it. But by the end of the day today, both of us were terribly on edge. It took me 15 minutes to get him into the car to get him to go to the chiropractor, where we meet Daddy, and basically switch cars, so finally I just grabbed him up, no shoes, Santa hat and coat, and threw him in the car. And he screamed until he was Blue. He did calm down eventually, probably because I agreed to wear a Santa Hat too. Oh, and the Nutcracker is now "Nut-Tata".

I will say, that since he expressed some mild fear when we pulled out the Grinch stuffy today, and I felt pity for him for having such a rough day, that first I had him "help" me make some pfeffernusse cookie dough, then Mommy opted to let him watch the Grinch this evening. He's enjoying it, and of course, wants more.