The weekend after Christmas

Here are some pictures from the weekend following Christmas.

Don't let that face fool you...the boy can play! Rack'em!

This day Damon and I played pool, air hockey and Foosball. We had so much fun!

Damon and Aden exchanging gifts. They were so cute. Their faces lit with excitement when they opened their gifts.

Aden got especially excited about his spiderman gift that Damon picked out for him. Listen to how cute the boys are.

Damon and I went to my parents house for game night. My extended family were there and we had so much fun.

Here I was helping Damon play "Bop It". That game is difficult for and adult and Damon didn't do half bad!

Who is Charity?

Since Damon got an abundance of toys for Christmas and since his birthday is just next month, this weekend we went through all of his toys that we wanted to donate to charity. Yesterday I explained to him that he has received a lot of new toys so we need to give some of his old toys to charity...

Damon: "Who is Charity?"
Mommy: "Well Charity is not a person but it is something you do to help others in need. Your toys will go to children that do not have the money to buy toys."
Damon: "Is she going to get all of my toys?"
Mommy: "Who is she?"
Damon: "Charity."
Mommy: "Oh no sweetie, charity is not a person and no, we are not going to give all of your toys away but you need to pick out as much as you can so we can give it to the children."
Damon: "Are the children's going to give me hugs?"
Mommy: "I'm sure if we see them they will give you hugs but we may just drop it off at a store and the workers will get it to the families that are in need. Lets go ahead and start picking out some toys. How about this one?"
Damon: "No, I still play with that."
Mommy: "Okay, how about this?"
Damon: "No, I still need that."

After about three consecutive "No's" I decided to talk him in to some of the toys that I know he never plays with and then he got on a roll and started donating more. Obviously the toys that were missing parts such as wheels on a car he was quick to give. I told him we needed to just throw those kinds of toys away. He said "Charity doesn't want this?" He was so cute.

Later that morning Aden (his cousin) and Christina (my cousin) came over to exchange gifts. One of the first things Damon said to Aden was: "I'm giving my toys to Charity and she's going to give me a hug." There are still a lot of toys I would want him to donate but I will wait until he is ready so we'll try again later this week.

Ahh...the joys of Christmas

Okay let's start with Christmas Eve...Damon was with his dad and I was at work. We only had to work half a day and about an hour before our office closed I got a call from one of my employees saying that there was a huge package at the front desk with my name on it. I knew exactly what it was. I jumped up and ran to the front and sure enough...it was Damon's "big" gift as mentioned in previous post. I was so excited that it came and just in time. The problem was, it was 115 lbs and I hadn't a clue how I was going to get it out to my car let alone up to my apartment. I managed to put it on our medical records cart and I pushed it out to my car and slid it in the back seat. My mom just happen to call me as I was leaving work and I told her that the present came and she offered my dad's services. Thank goodness because I didn't want to ask; I mean he just helped me the other day getting the elliptical upstairs so I felt bad asking him to help with this too, but he did. He came right over. We went to my car and looked at the big box and then looked at each other. There was no way that I could carry it so I wasn't much help until I decided to have him lay it on my back and he would hold the end of it while I walked so it would not slide off. That worked until we got to the stairs...there was no way I could walk up the stairs, crouched down with 115 lbs on my back. I can't explain how we did it but we got it up two flights of stairs. The next part was putting it together-two hours later it was together enough to be presentable. By that time I had to leave and head down the road to Marion to get Damon. It has become a new tradition...well since last Christmas. I now drive an hour and a half on Christmas Eve to pick Damon up from his dad's and while I'm there I stop in to see my Grandmother, Aunt/Uncle and all of my cousins. It's nice because I do not get to see them as much as I would like. Damon usually gets there around 7:00 pm and we stay until a little after 8 and then it is time to hit the road back to Lake Norman. The plan is that he falls asleep on the way home so that he doesn't see the toys already set up. My mom likes to spend the night so she can see Damon first thing in the morning too, so I pick her up on my way home and bring her to my place. I sleep on the couch with camera by my side so we can get him as soon as he wakes up...



Damon's gifts from Santa. The stocking contained puzzles, books, shirts, maps and apples.






CHRISTMAS MORNING...






My mom and I woke up early and just waited for Damon to get up. Much to our surprise he didn't awake until about 8 that morning which is unusual. My best friend Erin came over with her daughter Briana to open presents with us so by the time Damon woke up, a little grouchy I might mention, there was already a crowd which makes him shy but then he saw the toys and went right over to them. I believe the first one he picked up was the Ben 10 watch. Then he noticed his big gift and wanted to immediately play with that. When my dad and grandmother arrived we opened up presents. I get Damon an equal amount of educational toys as fun toys however this year he wasn't too happy when he would open gifts that flash cards with words, or mathematical cards, or maps of the world. He was polite enough to smile and ask if there was another gift.







Damon opened up a Power Ranger from mommy. I got him the blue one and grandma and grandpa got him the red one.





He got the movie and the book Horton Hears a Who from Aunt Erin and Briana. By the look of his face he loved it (above). He gave nice hugs to Aunt Erin and Briana for his gift.





Damon was excited to finally get the Spiderman Movie from mommy.



Erin opened up her Hanuka present from me and Damon. I hope her and Evan like it.



Briana just got finished opening up her Hanuka present from me and Damon and now she is giving Damon big hugs.




I however wanted a kiss but got a big hand in the face. That's okay, I'll take it!





After we gave out all of our presents we went to my parents house and opened up more presents, and then went to my grandmother's house and opened up more presents. My grandmother (Damon's Great-Grandma) always gets Damon the Hess trucks. My grandfather used to collect them every year and when my brother was born they would buy him one every year and now Damon is in on the tradition. Those trucks are so nice and always seem to be Damon's favorite gift. This years truck included a tractor that goes forwards and backwords by pushing a switch which was really cool. I usually let Damon play with those trucks inside but then I will put it back in the box and put them away. Later we had a nice big Christmas dinner which Erin, her husband Evan, and Briana joined us. We danced, we sung and we ate...my three favorite things. Damon got so many gifts that I usually hide some for his birthday and re-gift them. Some of them I even save until the next Christmas. :) I probably will not be able to do that next year.











The above video is the surprise for my parents. We had agreed that I would not be giving them gifts this year since we were supposed to be going to Hawaii which has now been postponed to October 2009. I acted like this was a gift for Damon but when they saw it was a computer they got confused...and then upset...and then really excited. Unfortunately you can't really see their expressions very well but you can hear their comments. It was pretty funny.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Okay so I thought I had all of my Christmas shopping done...apparently not. I went to the store today during lunch to get one specific thing and walked out with several Christmas gifts. Ugh! I just can't help myself. I love buying gifts for people and I get so excited! I am disappointed in one fact...I don't think Damon's big gift is going to get here in time (unless it comes tomorrow). Needless to say, my night has consisted of wrapping a ton of presents and for those of you who know me well, I don't just wrap gifts, I bring it down to an art form. We're talking ribbons, bows, matching wrapping paper...the works and once they are wrapped they have to be placed strategically under the tree in a symmetrical order. Just like food at a really nice restaurant, the presentation of the gift is really important-at least to me.

Damon is with his dad so I didn't have to worry about hiding anything. I will pick him up tomorrow night and bring him home. By the time we get home he will have fallen asleep in the car so I got to lay out the toys from Santa tonight. Tomorrow I will pick up a slice of Key Lime Pie to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve because everyone knows that Santa gets tired of eating all the cookies at everyone else's home, so we need to give him something a little different when he comes to see us. Boy does Santa love those Key Lime Pies! I think he actually ate two slices last year...wow!

Last year was the first year Damon really understood what happens on Christmas Eve so this year is going to be even better. We have been preparing for this night since September and the anticipation in both of us has built up. I can't WAIT! I might be more excited than Damon.

Sick Days

Late Monday afternoon I received a call from Damon's Daycare saying that he had a temperature of 102.1. I immediately left the office and rushed to Damon's school. Luckily I am only 3 minutes away. Now, for those of you that know Damon, you know he never gets sick. He has been one of the most healthiest child I've ever known so to have him get sick becomes a big deal for me.

When I arrived at his school the poor thing was just laying on the floor which is a sure sign that he is not feeling well along with the fact that he was burning up. I took him home, gave him some Motrin (which I recommend), put a cold washcloth on his head and started pumping him with fluids. I was able to bring his fever down within minutes. The funny thing is nothing was physically hurting him. I would ask Damon if his throat , head, ears, tummy hurt and he would say "No mom nothing is bothering me I just have a fever and need to keep this (holding out his washcloth) on my head." We laid on the couch watching his cartoons until it was time for me to make dinner. I made chicken and fried rice and much to my surprise Damon ate not only everything on his plate but he went for seconds. This is very strange...

I got Damon in bed as usual and I fell asleep on the couch, you know to be closer to him as his bed is a single and leaves no room for much more. I woke up around 1:00 that morning and checked on him. Sure enough his temperature had spiked again so I woke him up to follow the same procedures as listed above. We stayed up until about 3:45 that morning and then I took him into his bed to get him back to sleep and at that point I found myself squished in his bed right next to him. He slept the rest of the night.

Yesterday morning I woke up around 6 and his temperature was back up again. I woke him up, followed the same protocols and once 8:00 arrived I called his doctor and made an appointment for him to be seen. Luckily my mom was able to help me out because there were a few things I had to do at work so she watched Damon in the morning and at 10:00 I took him to his doctors. While in the lobby I had to continue to assure him he was not getting a shot today. When we were waiting in the exam room I got us some tongue depressors and we started to play swords with them to keep his mind off of where he was. I then practiced on him what the doctor was going to do and then I let Damon practice on me. The doctor came in and Damon became and instant chatter box saying random things that came to his head such as:

"I have a grandpa"
"I like power rangers"
"Do you like engine turtles?"
" I go to school"

Finally the doctor was ready to examine the cutest patient in the world and Damon did excellent. He checked throat, ears, temperature, heart and listened to his lungs. Damon did everything perfectly and didn't even flinch. I was very proud. It was time for the diagnosis-Bad news: Double Ear Infection...Good News: Damon didn't seem to feel it because he was acting completely normal. We got his amoxicillin, which we call "the pink stuff", and Damon started his treatment. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not but Damon loves to take his medicine and always has so on the rare occasions when he does get sick it is easily treated because he is such a compliant patient. :) He will be on his antibiotics for 10 days but he is feeling much better today and ready to go back to school.

Christmas Trains

Tonight I watched my god-daughter (Briana) so my best friend (Erin) could have some quite time to herself. I took Damon and Briana out to Brooklyn South for some pizza. The kids both ate cheese pizza...well Briana ate a few pieces of Damon's. Let me tell you, that Briana could almost eat as much as Damon. :)

After dinner I surprised the kids and took them to a place that had several electric trains riding around the tracks. My parents went with us as well. The kids really enjoyed looking at all of the trains and the lights. There were about 10 different trains. 3 tracks were hanging from the ceiling so the trains were going around in circles above our heads and the rest of them were on a large table. As you can see in some of the pictures the table was decorated as a Christmas town. It was very neat.


Damon and Briana watching the trains. Even though Briana is just turning one, she really enjoyed looking at all of them. She would kick her feet with delight and belt out a squeaky sound of excitement.
Damon has always been fond of trains so this was especially exciting for him.

Christmas is officially here!

This morning I woke up and felt really dizzy so I laid back down and only got up to fix Damon breakfast, get him something to drink, put on a movie for him or see what he needed when he would yell for me. I'm not sure why I was feeling that way but Damon did a great job just hanging out with me today. He would come in my room and we would play on my bed then he would go back in the living room to watch his movie then back to my room etc. We finally got out of the house around 5:30 this evening to get something to eat and buy our Christmas tree.

Damon was really excited about getting the tree. He ran around looking at all of the trees and finally picked one...of course I had to steer him away from the 10 footers and direct him towards the 5 footers but at the end he picked the best one. Damon had concerns as to how we were going to get the tree in our home because I was not "big".

Damon: "Mommy, how are you going to get the tree up the stairs? You are not that big."
Mommy: "Uh, you don't worry about it babe, mommy can handle it. Besides you can help me."
Damon: "No I really can't because I'm not strong." (in a pouting kind of tone)
Mommy: "Sure you are."
Damon: "Oh okay then I'll get the star part of the tree." (meaning the top)

And that is just what he did...well for about 4 feet, then he dropped it and said it was too heavy. I pulled it up the two flights of stairs and I must say Damon was impressed as he said "Wow mommy, you are strong!"

We put on the movie, Elf, ate our dinner, put up the tree, decorated our place and wrapped some gifts. We didn't get to decorate the tree tonight so we will finish it tomorrow.

Birthday Party!

Today was Riley's birthday party and Damon and I were invited. Damon was really excited to see his friend and to be able to play with her again. Of course Damon and I were running late...or so I thought. We arrived at 11:10 which I thought the party was to start at 11:00 but much to my embarrassment the party didn't start until 12:00...whoops! That didn't phase Damon or Riley; it just gave them an extra hour to play together until the other kids arrived and it gave me some time to engage in adult conversations without a ton of kids running around.

There was a bouncy house that had a slide so the kids would bounce and then fly down the slide. They did that for a good hour and a half. Then they ran around inside playing with all of the toys. Later they got to hit the Darth Vader pinata and collect all of the candy. They really enjoyed that and to our surprise, no one got hit with the bat. Inside we went to sing happy birthday, eat cake and open presents. Damon did really well for this being his first birthday party. He didn't try to open any of her presents nor did he ask where his present was. He just sat back and watched. Riley got a really neat gift where you sit down on a scooter-like seat and to make it go forward you have to turn the wheel back and forth. I can't remember what it was called but the kids loved it. Riley and Damon of course had to ride together. I found myself being the last parent there with their child so not only did we arrive early we also stayed late. Needless to say the kids played themselves out.

Damon and I then went to aunt Erin's house for dinner and dessert and stayed until bedtime; Damon fell asleep in the car on the ride home.

We had a long productive day and without having naps from either of us, we did pretty well.

Uh Oh...Flu Shot!

I left work early today so Damon could get his flu shot and oh did it break my heart. I told him as we were on our way there that he would be getting his shot today and he immediately broke out into tears. I know...why tell him? I'm trying to build trust between us and I don't think just showing up without giving him warning is a good way to do that. We were sitting in the waiting room and he just kept saying "I want to just go home Mommy...please!" So it was time to get his shot and I had to pull down his jeans so they could get to the thigh and he was fighting me the entire way, pulling them back up and not letting go. I finally had to put some muscle into it and hold him down while he screamed. When it was over he was sobbing saying he didn't want to come back here ever again and he would hit me on my shoulder. When we got to check out they had stickers...the good kind. Power Rangers, Spiderman, Hot Wheels etc. Suddenly the tears stopped and he took not one, not two but 8 stickers. I used to work there so the girls knew Damon when he was still in my tummy; needless to say we get special treatment. :) I gave Damon some Motrin prior to the shot so he would feel good for the after effects.

After his appointment I took him to TGI Fridays and we had dinner with Aunt Erin, Briana and Valerie. After dinner I took him to the looney tunes play area at Northlake Mall and he ran around for about 2 hours. He had a blast. After that we got some ice cream and then I let him watch a cartoon until he fell asleep on the couch.

Periodically throughout our night he would bring up the shot and he would say:

"Mommy, I don't want to get another shot...I'm telling the truth."
"I'm really telling the truth, I don't want to go back to the doctors."

I couldn't help but to laugh a little. At least he was telling the truth!