Holidays and Jingle Germs

We had a fantastic holiday! It was nice and low key and our little family had a wonderful time together all day long. We spent Christmas Eve having Scannell family Christmas at my dad's house with everyone. Charlie was up way past his bedtime, so that made for a cranky baby as the evening progressed, but it was still a fun time. Christmas day we set aside for ourselves and making it an enjoyable day for Charlie, Mommy, and Daddy. This was the year for starting new traditions and we had such a happy day. Other than a quick trip to wish our NICU family a Merry Christmas and drop off some cookies and a brief stop next door to wish the Kilians a Merry Christmas, we stayed home, enjoyed opening presents, had a yummy lasagna for dinner, watched a movie, and relaxed. It was perfect. New Years Eve we also broke tradition and had a nice quiet gathering with our very best friends at our house. We had plans to make a delicious elaborate meal, but ended up settling for Chinese take out, which was just as enjoyable. We have learned that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is not necessary to have a good time. We enjoyed what really matters and gave thanks for all we have been blessed with this past year!

As for the Jingle Germs, that is what I am blaming for the nasty cold that I came down with the day after Christmas that I am still feeling the effects from. Luckily for me, Vince had taken vacation last week, so he was here to take care of Charlie and I kept my distance in hopes of keeping him germ free. We had an appointment at the pediatrician's last Wednesday for a follow up on his ear infection and his second Synagis shot. His ears looked great and other than lots of tears, the shot went well. He has two teeth pushing through right now and we are hoping that that is the cause of his runny nose and gunkiness in his throat. He has not been sleeping very soundly lately and had a particularly rough night last night, so we are praying it is just those teeth and not the Jingle Germs! Any additional prayers would be greatly appreciated!

Charlie is now 20 pounds 12 ounces. He walks wonderfully - although he does not watch where he is going, so he often gets knocked off balance because he steps on things and bumps into things. He has had his fair share of bumps and bruises! He tried walking in his crib after waking up from a nap right before Christmas and still has the bruise on his cheek as proof that the crib mattress does not offer quite the same support to unsteady feet as the floor does! He says "ball" though it sounds more like "ba". He has started referring to his bottle as "baba" and is great about asking for puffs using his sign for "more". We gave him real Cheerios and Kix this past weekend and he ate them without a problem. He loves the little Fisher Price light up bongo drums that Santa brought him and has taken an increasing interest in the books that are in his play area. He is just so smart and amazes us more and more everyday!

Charlie turned 11 months old yesterday! Its hard to believe that its been almost a year! We are planning a birthday party to celebrate even though it is a little nerve wracking considering we have been so careful about germs and people. But we figure we have to introduce him to the real world sometime and it is going to be nerve wracking whenever. We do really want to have a chance to celebrate and not let our fears get in the way of that. We trust that being careful about things will keep him safe. It can be a Purell themed party! :-)

Vince bought me an amazing new camera for Christmas, but I am still learning how to use it and have not even tried to upload any pictures yet. So, the pictures we have are the last of what we took with our old camera. Hopefully I will figure out the other one soon so that there are no lapses in Charlie photo updates! :-)

Charlie is so excited to see a present from Baby K under the tree!

Far more interested in keeping the animals

closed up in their homes than letting them pop!

Charlie in his Christmas outfit and sitting on the

blanket that Mommy and Daddy made for him.

"Thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Alex! I knew exactly

what to do with it as soon as we opened it up!"

"Man it was cold out there!!"

This was right after we came in from outside

(hence the wild hat hair!)