Our Christmas Holiday

(Just realized I didn't post this yet!)

Christmas with my family was the weekend before Christmas. My family gathered on Saturday to exchange presents and have a mini birthday party for Bj and his cousin Tommy (who turned 1 on Dec. 13th). Time flies by so quickly when you're having fun with family!

Chuchee Monica and BJ

We started off our Christmas vacation with a flight to Massachusetts on BJ's first birthday. I brought little presents in my carry-on to entertain him on the flight. BJ did excellent (hey, he's a pro at flying now...this was his 5th airplane ride!)

Once we got to Grandma Bys' house we had a birthday party. BJ got to celebrate with all of daddy's family. He got a lot of Patriots/Red Sox gear, toys, and books.

On December 23rd we had a mini-Christmas celebration since Uncle Brad, Auntie Stephanie, and cousin Alex were headed up to Rochester for Christmas. BJ and Alex were able to spend some time together, however, their one year age difference is still quite apparent.

Thanks for the monkey hat, Auntie Stephanie!

This is when our trip took a turn for the worse. Christmas Eve, at 5am, BJ woke us up with an upset stomach. He proceeded to vomit 6 more times by 10:30 am. We spent most of the day upstairs in the bedroom, just lying around. BJ was so sick, he would just lean up against us. He couldn't even hold his head up! By the afternoon the diarrhea set in. I think BJ went through 3 changes of clothes! (We were supposed to see to Brian's extended family on Christmas Eve. They have not meet BJ yet.)

Christmas morning BJ seemed to be okay. We got him up and dressed by 10 am. Our little family of 3 read the Christmas story out of the book of Luke and then prayed. Then we joined the rest of the family downstairs.

BJ was so tired that he feel asleep while we read him a book. The rest of the day was filled with lounging, diaper changes, Pedialyte, and outfit changes every so often. Christmas night I started to have nausea. It lasted into the early morning but I was okay after that. Brian started feeling sick Sunday night. BJ continued his sickness until Monday. Right now it appears that only Brian is still fighting something. We are now home in MD. As much as we wanted to visit family this Christmas, it is SO nice to be home again. We didn't get to see everybody (like Grandma and Grandpa Deschaine and the crew) but at least we had family support for the first time BJ got really sick.

Through all of this sickness, we are reminded that our Father, the Great Physician, has the power to heal us all. Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son to this earth to die on the cross for our sins. Happy Birthday Jesus!

All I want for Christmas...

is my one front tooth!

Happy Birthday BJ!

BJ turned 1 on December 22. We had a party on the 18th with my family and a party on the 22nd with Brian's family. I can't believe how quickly BJ is growing up!

Happy 1st Birthday, cousin Tommy!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

BJ is growing up so quickly. He'll be one in a few short weeks. As he grows it's interesting to see the toys he chooses to play with and activities he chooses to do. Here is a list of BJ's favorite things:

1. Balls. BJ LOVES balls. Yes, it is something that Daddy introduced to BJ when he was a mere tike of 3 days old. But BJ has really taken the love for a ball to a higher level. His eyes light up when he sees one. He could throw the ball and chase it for hours.

2. Bananas. One of BJ's favorite breakfast foods. He gets super-excited when I pull out the banana. His legs start kicking and he claps. It's one of the few foods that he'll sign "more" for.

3. Bears. Brian taught BJ a game: first you hug the teddy bear, then you throw the teddy bear. You'll see him hugging his two teddy bears with a huge smile. And now he likes anything soft and fluffly. He's hugged my sweater and even my comfy sock (while it was still on my foot!).

4. Books. Part of our naptime routine is reading a book. BJ doesn't just sit there and listen; he likes to interact with the book. That could be turning the pages, flipping the book over, or even biting it. His favorite books are those that have textures to feel. He also likes the books with the flip tabs. Every Thursday we go to our local library for storytime. Although he doesn't sit still for the stories, he does enjoy the other children and the activities they do.

5. Bath. BJ gets a bath almost every night. He loves the water and the toys. It's fun to hear him talking to himself in the bath. I wonder what he's thinking about. The only part of the bath that he hates is the actual washing. He screams and twists and turns, like I'm intruding on his play time!

6. Blue. The color that is. It's the funniest thing. He has toys of all colors but he usually gravitates to the blue toys. We have a stacking rings thing. As an experiment I put the rings on so that the blue one was on the bottom. Wouldn't you know, he picked off all the rings until he got to the blue one. So I did it again, this time with the blue one in the middle. He took off only enough to get to the blue one. Funny.

6. Sweetie. BJ loves our cat, Sweetie. We first got her 8 years ago when Brian got deployed with the Army. She was a stray and was extremely skittish. Through the years she has gotten slightly less skittish but still a scaredy cat around strangers. When I was pregnant, we were afraid that she might get so frightened of the baby and become defensive. When BJ arrived Sweetie wasn't thrilled, but she coped. She would keep her distance but still be in the same room. Once BJ started crawling, he would chase her around the house and she would run for cover. Now, either Sweetie is getting lazy or old because she just lies there as BJ tackles her!

7. Music. Not just any old music. It is the music of three particular toys: the activity table, the ball popper thing, and the ring stacker. He will push the button on these toys just so they will play the music and then he will play with something else. Once the music stops he will go back and turn it back on. And then play with something else. It's gotten so, um, annoying that I've put tape on the speakers so it won't play as loud!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Love 2010 Christmas Card

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