HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord."

HO! HO! HO!

We have concentrated a lot on teaching Ayden about Jesus this season. We talk about decorations and presents in the context of celebrating Jesus' birthday. I love to hear Ayden sing "Jesus Loves Me" when he hears the name "Jesus." I hope not a day goes by that he doesn't know the love of his Savior.

While laying the Christian foundations for Christmas, I have neglected to mention much about Santa. The omission is not because I don't want the spirit of Santa to be part of our family Christmas tradition; on the contrary, I think Santa is quite fun and enjoyed many o' sleepless Christmas Eves proclaiming to my parents that I was certain I had heard the reindeer on the roof or seen the elves running around outside.

While Ayden is developing his understanding of holidays and God, we thought it better that Ayden learn about Santa as a byproduct, an afterthought, rather than the focus. That doesn't mean, of course, that he hasn't been exposed to Santa. Ayden's G-Daddy, someone who could certainly put in an application for the Santa job (he LOVES Christmas; he has a machine that uses light to make it look like it snows in their yard!), has taught Ayden that Santa says, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" He has introduced him to Rudolph as well, though I'm not sure Ayden makes the connection between Santa and Rudolph... no matter how many times Ayden insists that I sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

At Ayden's school, they meet Santa and take pictures. Ayden is always a little wary of new people, and I can only imagine the looks he was giving this person they call "Santa." His principal tells me he wasn't afraid and didn't cry, but they couldn't get him to smile. (I can't get him to smile either, so there was no big shocker there! A few days ago he yelled, "No cheeses, Mama!" In other words, he was refusing to say "cheese" for the camera.) Without further explanation, digression, or otherwise, here is Ayden's first picture with Santa:

Merry Boys

Someone asked my parents if the boys were always happy. I guess the blog certainly shows joyful, smiling children, and while their personalities lend themselves to good humor and fun, they have their rough moments like all children.

Because Ayden was so determined to act badly during our recent family photo shoot (he, like his daddy, HATES smiling for the camera), we have more candid shots of him. I will admit, however, he probably takes better candid pictures than posed ones. Believe it or not, he totally put his hands in his pockets and modeled so naturally on his own!

 

 

Even though his nose was running like a faucet and he felt pretty badly, Brogan was the real star of the family photos. We have a lot of good ones of him this time around.

 

Jordy, pregnant with her second boy (yeah!), photographed us once more. She is amazingly patient, and we are grateful for her time. Thanks, Jordy!

Ayden vs. Brogan

Ayden and Brogan have already started their version of wrestling, which consists of Ayden doing most of the work and Brogan just laughing.

Brogan's December Stats

Brogan at 9 months old

height: 28 inches - 50th percentile

weight: 24 pounds - 90th percentile

Crazy Pants

"Crazy Pants" is something I often call Brogan. I just find it fitting. There's just nothing subtle about him. Everything is turned up to 11, whether he's happy or really ticked off. The only version of him that is ever quiet and/or still is the asleep one. Otherwise, he's constantly making (loud) noises and constantly on the move (especially now that he's crawling).

Again, I think "Crazy Pants" is accurate. In support, I hereby submit Exhibit A:

Ayden's "Dinosaur Train" Rendition

It'll probably be after the holidays before we get up any substantive posts. In the interim, I'm going to throw up a few videos to tide you over until 2013 arrives. Here's the first:

Ayden's favorite TV show is "Dinosaur Train." This is him singing end of the opening theme song.

The Holy Strand

Find Your Place in the Divine Story

What if there was a world in which only one page of the Bible still existed? What if that page was the opening to the New Testament, the first chapter of Matthew? What if the only printed remnant of the Bible remaining was the first 17 verses of "the book of the generation of Jesus Christ"?

That's the subject of our church's Christmas play this year. As we've mentioned before, this annual production is important to our family. It has coincided with some significant moments in our life as a family. With Allison being pregnant, we sat out last year's play. This time around, Allison was willing to go it alone two nights a week and most of the day on Saturdays for me to participate again, no to mention every night this week as we do final prep for the show. (If you're wondering why we haven't posted in a while, this is the main reason).

So, if you're around this weekend and are looking for something different to do one night, please consider coming to see one of our FREE shows (our you can watch online Sunday morning). You don't need a ticket. You just need to show up (there's no childcare provided, but the show's kid friendly). We don't do prototypical Christmas plays. Ours are all originals. Each one is different. This year's no exception. All the info you need is below.

If that isn't enough to get you to come, here's a sneak preview of the set (still during the construction stage)

Happy (Thanksgiving)

Our Thanksgiving tradition is to spend most of the day with Phil & Elise and their children (and whoever else happens to be there that day!). Elise does an amazing job creating and organizing the most delicious spread, and it's the one time of year that I actually cook a dish. This year I cooked two! (Yes, it's true. Even though I hate to cook, I splurged for just one day.)

You are so much fun!

 

 

Rolling away...

 

I know all of my boys had the best time. Ayden pushed his mower or his tricycle. (He only rode the tricycle if someone was assisting him.) Brogan had his first Thanksgiving plate of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes; he bantered back and forth with his newest pal, Mr. Donald (Elise's dad); and he played in the grass with his buddy, Samuel. Bryan played football in the cul-de-sac with the big boys.

 

 

Ayden, where are you?

 

 

The time spent with friends was everything you want it to be: happy. Hope yours was too! 

 

Ayden's First Fight

Ayden has been in a few pushing matches at school, but those incidents are not the reason for this post title. (For the record, our son never pushed first... but that doesn't mean that he didn't hunt his opponent down on the playground in hopes that the teacher would never see him retaliate... oh, dear.) Ayden's first real fight was with the pavement. And he lost. Badly. The lump on his forehead swelled rather large but not large enough for him to end up in the emergency room. And what was our child doing? Well, he was disobeying his parents by doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing, playing on the uneven curbs in the church parking lot. Of course, I'm not sure he saw the connection between disobedience and pain in the midst of his screaming.

The event was indicative of the day that we were having with our toddler. We were trying to get our family pictures made for our Christmas card, and, as you can see, our oldest son was not at all cooperative. (Brogan, on the other hand, was a doll!) Though Ayden is normally a very well-behaved, well-mannered child, he certainly has his ugly moments. We experienced quite a few all in one day... but we managed to get a couple of good photo opportunities... that you will have to see in late December!

An Unwelcome Final Day

Yesterday was Ayden's last day with his feeding therapist, Ms. Helen. I wish I could say that the day marked Ayden's completion of feeding therapy. It did not. Instead, Helen will be going on maternity leave, so Ayden will be going to a new feeding therapist at the end of the month.

 

Learning to Use a Straw in Front of a Mirror

Helen has been extraordinary for Ayden. She was instrumental in helping to create a daily feeding plan that weaned Ayden from the NG feeding tube. She has also been an encouragement for Ayden's continued work with biting, chewing, and swallowing. He loves her, and he does stuff for her that he won't do at home.

I have a lot of respect for Helen. I always felt like we worked as a team for the good of Ayden's development and progress. She treated Ayden individually, rather than just another cardiac kid or tube fed baby. We trusted each other with Ayden's care, and, as a result, he has made significant progress.

We are hopeful that the transition to a new feeding therapist will be a good one. Helen believes that Ayden will respond well to anyone, now that he has gotten over some significant hurdles. I have observed his new therapist and envision a good opportunity for fresh perspective.

Ayden certainly enjoys eating a lot more. He feeds himself, whether it be by spoon or by squeeze (the toddler & baby squeezers were an ingenious invention!). He asks for certain foods or drinks. He keeps his cup of water out on the table at home. He still loves french fries, Ritz crackers, chocolate candy, and cheese puffs. And... here's the big news: Ayden has EATEN as many as SIX Ritz crackers at school. Yes, you read that correctly. When I received the news, I made sure to ask (several times) if there was a child he was pawning his food off on (i.e. dog under the table idea). I have been given assurance that he is indeed EATING (biting, chewing, and swallowing) these crackers. Apparently, he has a little friend that sits next to him at school and commands him, "Eat your crackers!" He likes this little friend enough to do as she says! ;)