Sunday, January 17, 2010

Smoochie Scotty

Scotty had his first kiss today! At church today I was letting Scott wander around a bit. There was a little girl only 2 months older than him playing near him. They both wanted to play together, but they are both still learning how to be gentle! She pushed him down and when I helped him up I asked her to give him a hug. She was so darling, she gave me a hug...then she went for it! She walked up to Scott and just planted one on him, right on the lips! I just about died! Of course I can't say that I blame her, I can see that my son is quite a catch!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Scott's 12-month update

Scott is one year old! In addition to being an extremely happy boy, he is full of energy. He loves to walk around the house and explore. Most of our cabinets are locked at this point, except for the one under our bathroom sink. He loves to pull out all the bottles and carry them around (I am always watching him closely when he does this). He loves to open and close doors, pull the DVDs off the shelf, pull magnets off the fridge, and play the piano; and don't ever leave your cell phone around...because he won't want to give it back!

He is a bit attached to his mommy, especially when he is tired. He will waddle down the hall after me mumbling "ma ma ma ma ma" when he wants me, and when he wants his daddy, he usually does one big "DA!" I think this kid knows what strings to pull!

He still absolutely loves the water. When it is bathtime he stands next to the tub and tries to climb in. He splashes in the water, and even puts his face down in the water to either blow bubbles, or take a drink. He cracks me up! I can't wait for summer to come around so we can get him in the pool!

I could go on and on with all of his skills and delightful characteristics, but I suppose that can all come out naturally with my future posts. Until then, please enjoy these pictures...literally taken just a day or two before Kiddie Kandids closed their doors. Boy, I sure did get lucky!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Finalizing 2009 and moving on!

Happy New Year! I realize it has been quite some time since I have updated our family blog, so I will try to give a brief update; but, 2010 is all about looking and moving forward, so hopefully I can keep that energy and momentum and push forward!

October was a pretty good month. Scott made significant progress with his mobility. He started standing on his own and cruising along the furniture. One thing is for sure, he loves to explore and he is constantly on the move! When Halloween rolled around we dressed up at Star Wars characters. I managed to sew Matt's and my costumes, and we purchased Scott's. It was a lot of fun and we did take Scott trick-or-treating with a fun group of friends. Our good friend Kristen even took the initiative to have the babies trick-or-treat for UNICEF. I wasn't even aware that this was done, but my apparently my mother used to do this. Basically, you just ask for donations and then you send the money to UNICEF. What a great idea!

Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and of course, Yoda.
In my most previous post Scott was sick, but it was nothing compared to what came around in November. Scott got sick again, mostly with a fever this time. He didn't really have any congestion, but he was extremely lethargic. In fact, I couldn't put him down for about 2 weeks. He refused to be put down, which of course slowed down the progress he was making on walking. He stopped eating solid foods and just reverted to breastfeeding, and even during bath time he would just sit still while I washed him, no splashing or any kind of bath time fun. After multiple phone calls, visits to the pediatrician, an urgent care visit, and an emergency room visit following a febrile seizure, it was determined that he had the roseola virus. Nothing really to do but wait it out.

Just as we started to see some improvement in his overall demeanor we saw a bit of swelling on his left eyelid. We thought maybe he had just rubbed his eye a bit much. The next morning he looked like this:I realize it is hard to see 3-D here, but it was so swollen that he couldn't even open his eye. It was a weekend so I called the nurse advice line, she sent me to urgent care (again), and they sent us to the emergency room (again). He was able to even his first ride in an ambulance as they transferred him to the children's hospital. This is how they attach an infant carseat to a gurney.
(You may think I am a strange mom for taking pictures of my son in such a condition...but all I can say is that this is part of his life, and you never can tell what purpose it will serve one day).
Long story short, we stayed in the hospital 3 days. He had a periorbital cellulitis, which is just the scientific way of saying he had a bacterial infection around his eye. The main concern was the possibility of an abscess forming, which could move into his sinus space, and go to his brain. Clearly, the hospital was the best place for him to be. We were lucky enough that Matt and I were both able to stay with him in the hospital at all times. By the time we left the hospital, he was back to his usual happy self! This is us the day we took him home, I have enough pictures of the whole experience to fill a whole album!December was business as usual! Scott really started walking confidently, and pretty much stopped crawling altogether. During the time that he was sick he didn't really eat much, and then add extra calorie burning, and all of a sudden my big boy is only in the 25th percentile for his weight. The pediatrician isn't concerned. He is still a healthy baby, with no signs of starving whatsoever!

Our holidays were spent with both sides of the family. We managed to get to Camarillo, Big Bear, and Utah. Scott was able to experience snow for the first time.
Of course the most exciting thing was celebrating Scott's 1st birthday! My idea of having a small, intimate party went right out the door as I invited a bunch of family and friends. We had a great time, and although Scott didn't really devour his cake, he still enjoyed making a bit of a mess.
And so we move onto 2010. This year our focus is to move forward. We have so many great friends and loved ones that we want to share our time with. We want to continue living our lives and enjoying all the moments and opportunities that come our way.