Pneumonia, Ear Infections, and Christmas- Oh my!

Where to even begin? Let's rewind to the week before Christmas when Camden came down with a nasty cough and a fever. My first thought was Oh no, there is no being sick on Christmas! and then I promptly took him to the doctor to nip whatever it was in the bud so we could all be well on Christmas Day. (For the past two Christmases, we have been lucky enough to have a stomach bug either right before or on Christmas Day. I was so looking forward to a well Christmas this year.) The doctor's visit was kind of a bust; she told me that whatever Camden had was viral and we'd just have to ride it out.

That weekend, we had our family Christmas party at my parents' lake house. I was on the fence about whether or not to bring Camden up until an hour before it was time to leave. He was fever free but his cough was terrible. In the end, I decided to bring him, because it was Christmas time and we only see my extended family once a year at this party. Initially, I didn't regret the decision; he had a great time at the party. Then, towards the end, he was outside playing and had to sit on the porch for a few minutes with Matt because he was having a particularly bad coughing fit and couldn't catch a good breath. And then it happened: he threw up all over himself, Matt, and the porch. I knew right at that moment that we would be back at the doctor the next day.

So, it was the Sunday before Christmas Day and I took him to our pediatrician's "acute illness" office hours. Thank goodness I did, too. His simple virus had turned into pneumonia in a matter of four days. We started him on a strong antibiotic and the doctor seemed hopeful that he would be feeling like himself again by Christmas. Then she jinxed me: "If your little one [Macey] hasn't caught the virus yet, chances are in your favor that she won't."

On Christmas Eve, Macey woke up with a cough and a fever. Back to the pediatrician's office we we went. I braced myself for what I was sure would happen: they would tell me that this was a virus, just like they had initially with Camden, and there was nothing they could do. And poor Macey would spend Christmas miserable. It felt weird to be thankful that the doctor discovered that she had an ear infection so that she, too, could start on an antibiotic.

Oh, and did I mention that Matt and I both had (milder) versions of the virus? Our house was a chorus of coughs and sneezes the entire week of Christmas.

We hosted Christmas  Eve dinner (my parents and in-laws provided the food; we just provided the venue) and much of that was a blur. But by Christmas day, we were all feeling a bit better, which was a huge blessing. The day ended up being great. My parents come over early Christmas morning to watch the kids get their gifts from Santa. We were then joined by my sister and her family and my brother for our traditional Christmas morning breakfast and gift exchange.

All's well that ends well, right? Merry Christmas (a bit belated), everyone!

Camden was feeling well enough to go to the Christmas Eve church service with my parents and my sister's family.

Probably his favorite gift: a Star Wars light saber.

 

Macey slept in on Christmas morning due to a rough night, but she was pretty pleased with her gifts from Santa when she did join us.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Christmas Happenings

It was an eventful week in our house this week. As I mentioned in my last post, Camden's preschool had a Christmas concert on Wednesday. I was a little unsure how it would go. In the weeks leading up to the concert, I kept asking him if he was learning new songs at school and he would just shake his head and say, "Nope." But then every once in a while, I'd catch him singing a few lines of a random Christmas carol and I knew that he was, in fact, learning the songs. I also wasn't sure how he'd do up on stage in front of a couple hundred parents. Don't get me wrong: he's come out of his shell in a big way since preschool started. But feeling comfortable in his classroom and feeling comfortable performing in front of an audience are two entirely different things. So, I just prepped him as well as I could and hoped for the best. And you know what? He did great. He had a little bit of a deer-in-the-headlights thing going on while on stage, but he also sang most of the words to the carols that he denied learning. I was so proud of my boy.

I wish I could post some actual pictures from the performance, but the preschool has a pretty strict policy on posting pictures that include other kids on any kind of social media. However, here he is directly post performance with Nan & Pop:

 

 

 

And with his fellow performer, Will.

 

On Thursday night, we took the kids to our neighborhood clubhouse to visit Santa. (Can I just say how awesome it is that my neighborhood does this every year? No standing in the winding line full of screaming kids while waiting on Santa at the mall!) Camden did great with Santa; there was no fear at all. He marched right up to him and told him that he would like a light saber for Christmas. Santa took his hand and asked, "What else?" Well, this question caught Camden off guard. He had rehearsed his light saber answer, but hadn't considered that Santa might want a longer list. So he thought long and hard and the best he could come up with? "A penguin! And a snowman!" He then started laughing hysterically at his own answers after realizing how ridiculous they were.

Macey, on the other hand...well, let's just say that Macey was not a fan of the bearded man in the red suit. She wouldn't even let me hold her while standing in the general vicinity of Santa so a picture was out of the question. I wasn't interested in forcing it-- the whole screaming kid on Santa's lap thing isn't my style. Santa seemed grateful. She did, however, have a fantastic time running around the clubhouse and scaling anything climb-worthy in sight.

This was when Santa asked what else he wanted besides the light saber. He's considering...

 

...and this is just after declaring he wants a penguin and a snowman. Notice his laughter at his own joke.

 

 

 

I'll smile for anyone BUT Santa!

 

We've also continued a fun little tradition that we started last year: driving around our neighborhood a few nights a week to look at Christmas lights. Camden's favorites are the big, inflatable characters that peek out of a Christmas tree or a train or some other sort of object. He calls them "peekers" and gets so excited when he spots one. It's sweet how much he tries to include his sister too. Whenever he spots an elusive peeker, he'll say, "Macey! Look! Look out your window!" And much to his delight, Macey typically follows his directions and lets out her excited squeal when she spots a giant character.

And, finally, my very talented sister/photographer took our Christmas pictures again this year. And, once again, she didn't disappoint. I absolutely love how they turned out: