Our friend Jess came over for dinner Monday. The boys love Jess and Jess loves them right back, snotty noses, coughing in her face, and all.

First "Warm" Cocoa

Mama and Dada have no voices because we've been coughing for days so we can't read today as much as usual. We gave up after dinner and watched half of Polar Express, this time with hot cocoa. But Beck and Theo are very sensitive to things being too hot, so they called it "warm cocoa". Also, Jeff has not become a serial killer; he just looks like one in this picture.

When Theo came down to the basement with me Friday to do laundry, he saw this Sit and Spin Zebra that they used to play on and asked for it to come up. He even agreed on a toy to go away in storage downstairs (a rarity, and a must in our house that is already crowded with toys) and I brought it up. The boys have been really enjoying riding on it again. A favorite game is pretending it is broken, asking me for help in fixing it, and then grinning with glee when they turn the button from OFF to ON and getting it going again.

Beck tends to spin and spin and SPIN until, when he gets off, he careens from stationary object to stationary object, bumping into things and laughing. This isn't the worst example I've seen.

Theo has continued feeling sicker over the last few days so Jeff came home early and I took him to the pediatrician this afternoon. He has a double ear infection, a 102 fever, and some kind of viral infection which has caused a skin rash on his legs and shoulders. So he's on a 10 day antibiotic and tylenol as needed for pain. Beck started coughing today too, so we're probably a few days behind Theo on the illness calendar for him. The toughest thing is that Theo's been so uncomfortable sleeping that he's up every 20-30 minutes looking for some comfort, water, or something from us, so Mama and Dada are pretty sleep-deprived and getting sick too.

This next part is not for the easily nauseated. Tonight we're about halfway through dinner, eating quesadillas and roasted sweet potatoes, when Beck tries a bite of sweet potato and looks like he gags. I rolled my eyes, thinking he was being dramatic because-egad! a vegetable passed his lips!-until he throws up all over his plate and tray and down his bib, seemingly all the food he has just ingested. Jeff and I quickly take off the bib and remove the tray, and as we are swiftly removing all remnants of the disaster which has just occurred and preparing to deal with what may come next, Beck starts screaming for more juice and for a new bib and tray. Hesitating, we return his tray and put on a new bib. He takes a drink of juice (really water with a splash of juice, reserved only for when they are sick) and then asks for some quesadilla. He proceeds to eat several more pieces of quesadilla, never so much as looking queasy or even acknowledging that he has just thrown up massively. We kept thinking it was just a matter of time before he threw up again, but he never did. Way to puke and rally!

The funniest part was right after Beck finishes ejecting every morsel of food onto himself and his tray, Theo, sitting across from him, announces "I all done now." Yeah. Surprisingly, Beckett, your dining companions usually lose interest in eating after watching you vomit up exactly what they are eating.

Polar Express FAIL

Sunday we had planned to ride the Polar Express with friends Pete and Becky and their kids. It took a lot of logistical planning, which was kind of stressing me out, because though the train didn't leave til 4:30 from Utica, it took an hour to get there (without any snow snafus) and we found out Friday we were supposed to be there an hour early, so they would have to nap super early and I'd have to pack dinner for us to eat on the train. Theo has been coughing for a few days, a throaty, meaty, phlegmy cough. At lunch today he threw up basically his whole lunch and then looked tired. I successfully put them down very early (12:30) and packed up lunches and the bag with coloring books, new trucks, etc. We woke them up at 2:30 to get on the road, and almost immediately Theo started making throw up noises and coughing, and generally looking ill. We decided to turn it around. We thought briefly about having Jeff drop us off and continue on with Beckett but he probably wouldn't have caught the train, which would have been insanely frustrating, so we all just stayed home.

We decided to make the best of it by watching the Polar Express movie with some popcorn and juice, all rare treats in our house. The boys LOVED the movie. Of course Theo coughed like one more time from when we turned the car around to when he went to bed. Luckily the place gave us a credit to come back next year, when we may all enjoy it a little better anyway with the boys being a little older.

Here's us making lemons into lemonade:

Christmas comes early at the House of Lovebo

Saturday we enjoyed a nice visit with Jeff's family, including Aunt Renee who has become a staple of the boys' nightly singing routine. They braved the cold and snow to come to play with Theo and Beckett AND be put to work as the Christmas elves! Once the boys were asleep for their naps I quickly put them to work assembling the new play kitchen we bought the boys. What I read had indicated that it would take two adults 2+ hours to put together, but with a couple diaper-changing breaks (Theo still tends to poop right before he goes to sleep for nap), it took our five adults a little less than two hours to put it together. Jeff acted as foreman, with Greg as second-in-command laborer, Kathy and Renee were on "small parts"--the connector pieces that held the thing together, and I was on recycling/garbage/logistical support/small parts assembly. When I went up to get Beck up they had a few steps left to go but when we got downstairs they had completed the last step.

We still have accessories to add but the boys are really enjoying their new playspace.

Bathtime fun