Life Lately

Oh, January. I'm just not a fan.  It's freezing, it's blah, and it's just tough getting back into the post-holiday routine.

Life never slows down for my family, though! Here's a brief glimpse at life lately:

Liam is right on schedule with his annual January respiratory illness! He doesn't get sick often, but he gets REALLY sick every January.  I'm not sure if it's related to Down syndrome, but he has a very high pain tolerance.  That makes it so difficult to tell when he actually needs to go to the doctor. He still plays, smiles, and acts normal even when he's sick! Unfortunately, if we don't take him in time, he can go from being very mildly ill to very sick in a matter of hours.

Because he doesn't run fevers unless he's really sick, I learned to take him in at the first sign of a fever.  We ended up at Med Express on Sunday, and he was diagnosed with an ear infection and possible pneumonia.  He was wheezy, but the doctor didn't want to expose him to unnecessary radiation to confirm pneumonia.  The antibiotic she prescribed treats both the ear infection AND pneumonia, so he's covered!

Thankfully, we caught it early this time! And just in case you thought I was kidding about his annual illness, Timehop confirmed that he took an ambulance ride to the ER last year on the very same day and was diagnosed with RSV, Croup, and Bronchiolitis!  Now...hopefully an ER won't give him cellulitis this year and we'll be good until his infection next January!

Lily had a gymnastics field trip with her preschool on Friday.  She decided that she absolutely DOES want to do "jazznapstics" in the Fall.  I'm sure she will change her mind approximately 25,000 times. She had fun and I got to chase around 18 preschoolers with my camera. Coffee was needed after that field trip. Also?  Information about Kindergarten arrived today and I seriously teared up.

Lexie's Christmas present from her grandparents was a parakeet.  She named it Krispy and it was the cutest, sweetest little bird.  Note my use of was.  Lexie is a very responsible kid, and is a very responsible pet owner. She took such great care of her bird, and just adored it.  Unfortunately, her bird had a freak accident while she was at school. It somehow got its foot caught at the bottom of the cage, and must have panicked and had a heart attack.  I found it after I arrived home from picking Lily up from preschool, and my heart immediately sank.

Telling Lexie was awful.  It broke my heart.  She was devastated, and sobbed in my arms for 20 minutes.  I felt so helpless, and all I wanted to do was take away her pain.  Lexie feels so deeply, and it makes my urge to protect her even stronger. She had that bird for less than 2 weeks, but she loved it so much. I absolutely hate seeing her in pain.

Dylan started basketball at the beginning of December and he had his first game on Saturday.  After 5 years of baseball, I can honestly say that I like basketball so much more.  The games are only 50 minutes long (compared to those 2 1/2-3 1/2 hour games) and it's actually exciting to watch.  Every Saturday through the end of February will now be spent at basketball games, but it's okay.  He loves it!

We went to my sister's house for dinner on Saturday, and Liam loved spending time with his cousin, Elijah. He wasn't too sure about the crying, though! Liam is almost 2 1/2 and Elijah is 12 weeks old, and, well, there isn't much of a size difference! (Although it was confirmed that Liam finally reached 24 lbs!  Woo-hoo!)

The Steelers are heading to the next round of playoffs.  Let's just say that last quarter of the playoff game on Saturday night was ROUGH. Watching my husband watch the game gives me major anxiety.  Obviously, Liam felt the same way!

This book.  Over and over and over again! But it's SO good and it's great for OT!

It's REALLY cold right now. Winter definitely arrived with the new year. Wearing lots of layers, keeping the fireplace on, and snuggling is the only way to tolerate it.

I finally got the chance to take down Christmas today.  I'm currently in the process of decorating for Valentine's Day.  I think another trip to Target and TJ Maxx is in order...

As for me, I'm exhausted from trying to keep up with 4 kids and our busy schedule, and staying up way too late. My current goal is making this girl smile.  Even if it means taking unflattering selfies at her request. It doesn't get any more real than this!

That's the last 4 days in a nutshell! We definitely know how to keep busy.  I'm just hoping for a break from the sickness and the sadness.
  
How is your January going so far?

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