Visit with Santa

Well, we finally braved it and went to see Santa with the kids. We decided to go on a weekday during the day so there wouldn't be a very big line. We just happened to time it wrong and got behind an ENTIRE preschool class going to see Santa. Now, it wasn't that bad - all the kids just sat on his lap for a second and took a quick picture. So it went fairly quickly. I did feel bad for them - they were 4 year olds, and didn't get to talk to Santa at all. Poor kids. But, it was a nice idea.

Anyway, we were in line about 45 minutes which wasn't that bad. Arlington went up first while the babies just kind of checked Santa out from afar. Arlington showed Santa her list and Santa told her that he could bring everything on the list. Good thing mommy and daddy are on the ball after that statement! She was very excited to see him. We took a picture of her alone with Santa and then decided to put the babies on his lap. Finley was okay at first - checking him out. But when I stepped back to get Cainan she started crying. I put Cainan on his lap but before he even got all the way down he was having a fit! Cainan is not great getting handed over to strangers as it is, so I knew it would go badly! But we took the picture anyway (as you will see below) because we are in to torturing our kids.

But this week has not been a lot of fun. Starting Monday afternoon, Arlington has had a fever. It lasted all day Monday and she stayed home today and still has the fever tonight. So she isn't going to school tomorrow, either. I feel bad because tomorrow is their Christmas party at school, but she just isn't feeling well enough to go. Poor kid. She will be sad she missed it. Finley is also sick. She has had diarrhea for a few days and will be missing school again tomorrow. Cainan is okay, but has a terrible congested cough that he has had for awhile. I still have a cough, but Mat seems to be okay. Mat stayed home with the kids today because Cainan had a lot of appointments that I needed to take him too. Unfortunately I am going to have to miss work tomorrow so that he can go back. Hopefully everyone will be well enough to return to school on Thursday. Cainan is going to school tomorrow. I think he has a better chance of not getting what the girls have by not being home with them!

Cainan had occupational therapy on Monday. He did fine, there. He is very stubborn and not very good at following directions, so it is challenging for him. But he is getting better. He is strengthening his hands and his thumbs, and also trying to get over his "sensory" issues. He didn't have a lot of sensory stimulation in the orphanage, so some things are overwhelming to him. So we are working on getting him over that, and the OT seems to think that will decrease his anxiety and how emotional he gets. Let's hope so!

Today Cainan had speech therapy, an ear nose and throat (ENT) appointment and a helmet appointment. Speech Therapy went fine. He still isn't saying much while he is there, but I continue to get a lot of pointers to use at home which is helpful. The ENT said his tubes looked good. She cleaned out his nose (which he hated) and listened to his lungs (since she heard his congestion and cough). His lungs are clear and his ears looked good. So it just seems to be a cold. Let's hope it stays that way.

Then we went to our helmet appointment. I was hoping we were getting the helmet off today, but the helmet lady said another month - possibly two. What????? She is trying to kill me. But she did say I could keep it off of him during the day and just put it on for sleep and car rides. That will help. I don't see much change, but she still believes that his head can mold a little more. So we will see. We see her again at the end of January, and then will make the decision to do one more month or call it quits. I am voting for stopping - especially if there hasn't been any change over the next month. So we will continue to drive to Fort Lauderdale a little longer.

So that is our week so far. Today was by far the longest. Cainan and I left the house at 8:15 and didn't return until 6pm. Long day. But Cainan is a good boy and did well with the long day and was very happy tonight playing with his sisters.

Updates and funny things:

Arlington said something funny. She was doing something she shouldn't the other day and I told her "Santa is watching, you better be good". She said, "well, he can't be watching me right now because he is at the mall taking pictures". Nice.

For any of you that have seen the movie "Elf" do NOT watch it with a very inquisitive 4 1/2 year old. She asked about a million questions - "why is Buddy so big?" "where are his parents?" "Why is his house so small?" "Why does he have to walk - where is his car?" "Why isn't the real Santa in the movie?" "Why is Buddy's dad on the naughty list?" on and on and on. I think I saw about 2 seconds of the movie.

Finley learned to say "hat". She says it really well and knows what it is. It is cute. Cainan has learned to say something that sounds like "I want". He says " I wa" and does the sign for "I want".

So we are one week from Christmas - our first Christmas with Cainan! We can't wait! He did get a present in the mail this week from our wonderful family friends, the Hornicks. So he got to open his VERY FIRST Christmas present! It was wonderful and we thank the Hornicks for giving him his first gift!

Here are a few pictures: