When I Grow Up...

For quite some time now, Christopher's been stating the following:

"When I grow up, I might want to be a firefighter and then a plumber!"

He's pretty set on at least the firefighter part, too. He gets really excited whenever the fire engines come by our house and HAS to watch them go by. He LOVES any kind of fire truck book! And, he has LOTS of his own fire trucks. However, I don't know where the plumber part fits in. We've had a plumber to our house twice that I can remember since C's been born. I think he just tacks it on at the end for the heck of it. *shrug*

P.S. I don't remember if I've noted this before, but another funny quote from Christopher from a few months ago:

We were driving by the local college campus and saw a college student twirling one of those huge signs advertising one of the bookstores. I kinda giggled when the guy dropped the sign because...well...he just plain looked goofy! Christopher said, "Mama, I don't think that's funny. I might want to do that when I'm big some day."

That still cracks me up!

MOPS Fundraiser Picture

A few weeks ago, my MOPS group sold $10 tickets to get your child's picture taken. The incentive was a "free" 8x10. Of course, the photographer then tried to sell you all the pictures. I took Christopher with no intention of buying any since we have school pictures coming up soon; I just wanted the free 8x10 (not to mention help out my MOPS group). Unfortunately for us, this photographer uses tuxes and fancy white dresses for the kids to dress up in. We did choose to put Christopher in a tux and OH. MY. GOODNESS...it was WAY TOO CUTE!!! Sadly, the cheapest price for the pictures was $140 (6 sheets), but the price of the package I wanted was $230 (11 sheets plus cd with copyright release)!!!!! <:-O Umm...NO WAY, JOSE!!!! The photographer was then willing to go down to $130 for 4 sheets. Heck, if I'm spending more than $100, I'm getting a heck of a lot more than FOUR sheets!!!!! That was $32.50 PER SHEET! Crazy!!! So, after all that, here's the free 8x10 pose that I chose:

Of course I'm biased, but isn't he the cutest????? :D

Is it Summer or Winter??

So, today's high has been 74 degrees. Tonight's low is supposed to be 22. Tomorrow's high...39. Are we ever going to get healthy around here???

Christopher's doing much better today...he still has a cough and a stuffy/runny nose...but with this wacky weather, I'm sure it will only get worse again. :p

On the plus-side of the temperatures being so nice...I love having the house opened up and the heat off! So do Christopher and Bailey. :D

A Trip to the Doctor

While last night wasn't *too* bad, it scared me enough that I decided to take C to the doctor this morning. The diagnosis: Croup. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done for it; we just have to let it run its course (takes about 5-6 days total).

With Croup, the nights are supposed to be the worst. I think, at this point, last night specifically was the worst for us. Today was much better for him since he wasn't coughing every 2 seconds and, when he did, it sounded productive and not like a seal barking. We've got the cool air vaporizer going again and I've used Vicks VapoRub on him and, so far, he's been fine. I hope the rest of the night goes as well!

We were supposed to work childcare for a women's Bible study at my church tomorrow morning. I called the medical clinic this afternoon to ask about how contagious C is, or even *IF* he's contagious. I was told he would be okay after being fever-free for 24 hours. He never did run a fever, so I think he's fine to be around other people. However, we're playing it safe and went ahead and cancelled. I don't want to chance infecting anyone else, plus Christopher could use another day home to recouperate. I need to be back at school on Thursday, so hopefully he'll be well enough by then.

As an aside...I made fun of Shad and myself yesterday...here Christopher is sick and coughing, yet he *still* has enough energy to play all day long!!! Amazing!

Caught By A Bug

My poor baby is sick. =( He started with a slight runny nose early last week, which progressed to the HORRIBLE barking cough that he has now. I feel so bad for him! He wasn't able to go 2 seconds during the day today without coughing. His chest is so tight that he's saying it hurts. He's stated several times today, "I just want my cold to go away!" =(

At bedtime, we hooked up the cool air humidifier, gave him Delsym (lasts 12 hours) and put Vick's under his nose and on his chest and feet. He slept for about 1-1/2 hours cough-free, but woke up to a fit (and the need to go potty). He's back asleep again, but has still coughed a couple of times. I've got a feeling that tonight's going to be a VERY long night. =( I can easily see myself ending up in his bed, which would be interesting, to say the least (it's his crib converted to a toddler bed). He was definitely sleeping better while I was with him.

I've already called the preschool to let them know that neither Christopher nor I will be there tomorrow. I'm hoping a full day off will do him some good. If he still has the barking cough after breakfast in the morning, I'm planning to take him to the doctor. Other than some heavy-duty cough medicine, though, I don't know what else they can do. He REALLY needs to be able to sleep and to go more than a minute without a coughing fit!

We have been SO lucky this Winter to not be plagued by sickness! He had allergy issues that turned into a sinus infection back in late-November/early-December, but otherwise nothing. I knew we couldn't be lucky enough to get through an entire season without problems. :p Please pray that he gets to feeling better soon...and that we don't end up at the ER because of his coughing and inability to breath well!!!

Could Regular Naps Be History?

For the last couple of weeks, Christopher has refused to take a nap while at home. I make him at least attempt to rest, but all he'll do is talk to himself, play in his bed and get up 1-2x for various reasons (usually to poop, of course). He still continues to nap *on occasion* at school (only when classmates aren't disturbing him), so I'm hopeful that the naps aren't gone for good yet!

Before the last couple of weeks, if he missed his nap, it wasn't *too* big of a deal (mainly just a torturous afternoon/evening); we'd just try to put him to bed early. He never used to have any residual effects the next day in his sleep routine or his behavior. However, there have now been 3 days when he's gotten up much earlier than normal after going to bed early the night before. I'm really hoping this is just a transition period, because he should be getting MORE sleep at night instead of the same or less!!!

I realize that he's of the age where naps may becoming few and far between, but I can still hope!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I just had to share this with everyone:

We were driving by campus today and came across a couple of college students twirling large signs advertising a particular local college bookstore. They really do look goofy, so I chuckled a bit. Christopher then says, "Mama, I don't think that's funny. I might want to do that when I'm big some day."

I nearly pee'd myself I laughed so hard!!!

First Visit With Santa

Shad and I took Christopher for his first visit to see Santa yesterday. Whenever anyone asks him what he wants Santa to bring him, he always says, "A train!" He was so excited about sitting on Santa's lap and telling him his wish...until it was our turn! When it came time for him to go up to Santa, he shy'd up and tried to hide. It only took a minute, though, and he warmed up. He even cheesed for the camera. Since I wasn't buying pictures from the photographer (they were a rip-off!), I was only allowed to take 2 pictures with my own camera. Here's what I got:

Christopher Can Draw Letters!

This evening, Christopher and Shad were sitting in the recliner looking at a book together. It wasn't just any regular book; it was a book about dinosaurs that had dry erase pages and a dry erase marker. It allows children to trace letters and draw their own. So, I warned Shad not to expect too much since we're just introducing that to the 3-year old class I help teach. Some of those children are having a really hard time. I really didn't have any expectations at all for Christopher to be able to trace. Well, as usual, he proved me wrong! Here are some pictures of his work:

Tracing letter J


Tracing letter K


Tracing Letter L


He's so proud of himself!

Another Trip to The Aquarium

I took Christopher down to Chattanooga to visit my sister, Mindy, last week. We spent Thursday night and Friday down there. Our plan for Friday was go to Coolidge Park in the morning where there's a playground, water fountains and carousel, have a picnic lunch and then go to The Aquarium. However, it rained all morning, so we stayed longer visiting Mindy's BFF (who gave us IMAX tickets) instead. We then had our picnic lunch (in the rain) at an umbrella table at The Aquarium. Afterward, we all went to see a 45-minute show about dolphins and whales at the IMAX. It was Christopher's 1st movie at a theater of any kind and he did okay. Thank goodness it was only 45 minutes, though! At first, he was afraid of the 3D glasses and when the theater got really dark (the bright screen lit the room most of the time). However, with about 15-20 minutes left, he let me put the glasses back on him. From that point, he LOVED it! It was too funny seeing him try to catch and pet the dolphins and whales! LOL!

Here are some pictures from our day:

In the Butterfly Garden


Pointing at a sting ray


Cute but goofy grin


He wouldn't smile, but he still looks cute


What a cheezy smile!


Pointing at an alligator


One of those pictures that are taken immediately upon entering the building


Eww! Petting a Rat Snake!!!


Aren't the penguins cute???


A couple of Weedy Seadragons


A Potbelly Seahorse (the males give birth!)


Blue Hyacinth Macaws


A butterfly


A Hammerhead Shark


Green Moray Eels

A Trip to the Doctor

On Wednesday, I let Christopher take his very first shower with me. He decided that he wanted to hold Daddy's soap (a bar of SafeGuard soap). I thought it would be funny to see IF he could hold the soap. Well, he had no problems taking it from me, but IMMEDIATELY went to rub his eye. It was like slow motion: him moving his hand toward his eye and me saying, "NO!" and trying to stop him. I was unsuccessful, though, and he got soap in his eye. Of course, it burned, but I flushed it and doctored him up and he was fine within a couple of minutes. Needless to say, he won't play with Daddy's soap anymore. ;)

Later that evening, I noticed that his top eyelid looked slightly swollen. I just figured it was still a bit aggravated from the soap in his eyes, so didn't think much of it. When he woke up Thursday morning with it still swollen, though, I called his pediatrician's office to ask for advice. I was told that not much could be done and to flush again and use cold compresses. Except right after naptime, it stayed about the same the rest of the day. However, when he woke up this morning, his eye was nearly swollen shut, so I called his pediatrician's office once again and made an appointment for this morning. Thankfully, they had an 8:45 slot open, so we were still able to make our park playdate.

He's going through this phase of being terrified of doctors, dentists, exterminators who come to our house and strangers in general, so he totally freaked out once we got into the waiting room of the doctor's office. He cried/whimpered the entire time until Dr. Tammy started looking for Diego in his ears. That seemed to pique his interest and calmed him down. It was then that Dr. Tammy was able to get a good look at Christopher's eye. She then realized that what was wrong wasn't irritation from the soap, but a stye! Poor thing! He claims it doesn't bother him, but when you're eye is swollen so much with a little red bump on your eyelid, how can it NOT bother you??? I think he just didn't want me taking him to the doctor! LOL! ;-) So, we came home with a sample of antibiotic eye drops to put in his eye (1 drop 3x a day) and instructions to alternate cold and warm compresses. It should go away within 5-7 days.

Here are a few pictures of his boo-boo (it's his right eye):

Oh, and he now weighs 27.8 lbs!!! So, that's the news from our house!

Two Big Steps in One Day!

Christopher had TWO accomplishments in ONE day today!

First of all, he PURPOSELY peed on the potty! It happened this morning after bathtime. He had finished drying off and was standing naked when he started to pee, but stopped. I then quickly put him on his potty seat on the toilet where he started again! I was so excited for him! I put a Pull-Up on him, but couldn't repeat the success. I figure now we'll start working a little harder on potty-training.

Here's an edited picture of him sitting on his little potty before bathtime:



His second accomplishment was learning how to pedal his tricycle FORWARD! He's been able to pedal backward for a few weeks now, but I managed to get him to try going forward today. He still prefers to push himself rather than pedal, but I know that'll change over time.

Here's a video of him pedaling his tricycle:

1st Haircut

I got tired of Christopher's curl, so I cut it off today! It's his first haircut! Here's some pics:

A Couple of Videos

Christopher the Acrobat - February, 2, 2008

Aw Man! - January 17, 2008