Ben’s Blog

The Pharr family had an enjoyable Christmas despite some sickness. Including the weekend before Christmas, Christmas Day, and the weekend after, we attended seven family Christmas functions and missed another due to a conflict. It was good to see everyone.

We stayed in Oxford Christmas Eve night so the boys could open their presents here. We got Luke a tricycle and an “alphabet train,” and a few smaller things. Staying true to my last minute reputation, I stayed up until nearly 2am putting toys together. The look on Luke’s face when he saw everything was well worth it though. Of course I captured it on video, which I may try to post one of these days. He hasn’t quite figured out the tricycle, but he’s getting there.

Shortly after he finished trying out all his gifts, Luke started feeling bad. A fever, sore throat, cough, and runny nose ensued. The fever finally abated Sunday morning and this evening he was mostly back to his old self. Of course, now Liam has it, though thankfully it hasn’t hit him nearly as hard as it did Luke. I’ve got a sore throat and some congestion, but nothing too bad.

Unfortunately, Luke had to miss a couple of Christmas gatherings because he was sick. Luckily, Cassie’s mom was able to keep him, so the rest of us were able to go.

In addition to what we got him for Christmas, Luke received an art easel, his first Lego set (Duplo-sized), a play kitchen, a set of Ikea table and chairs for his room, and a kid-friendly MP3 player. We’re hoping the kitchen will give him something to do while we cook. He loves to play with pots, pans, and utensils and always wants to “help” when we’re cooking. Obviously I’m excited about the Duplo blocks.

I got some fun “toys” for Christmas too, which I’ll be posting about soon.

I’ve been meaning to post a “Luke and Liam update” for a while. I haven’t posted anything in nearly a month and a half. I’m sure I’ll forget something, so you can expect another one soon.

Liam will be 4 months-old on the 19th. He’s getting quite big. He goes back to the doctor for a checkup next month, and I’m eager to see how his weight and length compare to Luke at that age. He’s doing a good job of holding his head up, but he’s not quite ready to sit up yet. He spends most of his time in his bouncer or his swing. He loves to smile and squeal, particularly when you talk to him up close. Thankfully, he’s been getting up just once during the night lately, though he occasionally gets up twice.

He’s still having some spit up issues. I got spit up on twice while I was at home for lunch today. We’ve tried changing his formula to Nutramigen (a.k.a. “the expensive stuff”) with no luck. Today we started trying some medicine that his pediatrician gave us. Hopefully it will do the trick. It’s obviously not effecting his health though, as he’s getting chubby.

Luke turned 18 months-old on the first. He’s getting into everything. He’s doing lots of climbing. It’s not too terribly uncommon to turn your back for a second and turn around to find him on top of the kitchen table. Doors are no longer a problem for him. Light switches are no problem, though they do require “tippy toes.” He’s found the power button on my computer, and likes to exercise it. Strangely though, it scares him when the computer actually powers off and things get quiet.

Until about a month ago, Luke was still getting 8 oz. of whole milk 3 times a day; once in the morning, once after his nap, and again before going to sleep. We kept talking about cutting him back, but never did. About a month ago he got a stomach virus of some sort, and we switched him to Pedialyte for a few days. When he got better, he never really showed a big interest in getting his bottle at his usual times, so Cassie took to opportunity to cut him off. He occasionally fusses when Liam gets a bottle, but it’s pretty rare. For a few weeks, you could tell he was getting a little skinnier. Slowly but surely he’s developed a healthy appetite for a lot of things he didn’t eat before. I guess he was always too full of milk to get too adventurous. Now he eats pretty much continuously, and has gotten his little pudge back.

Luke has recently taken up playing the harmonica. I used it to distract him one night when he was fussy and he’s been playing it ever since. It took him a total of about five minutes to figure out how to work it. Sometimes it’s hard to get away from him.

We went to the Oxford Christmas parade last Monday night. We got a parking spot at Abner’s around 4:50pm. The parade didn’t start until 7pm, but we wanted to be sure we had a spot near the street so Cassie and Liam could watch from the car. In the meantime, we walked up to Square Books to buy a Christmas present and then down the hill to Newk’s for supper. Luke and I stood out at the street for the parade. He thoroughly enjoyed it. It was in the high 30′s, but we bundled him up good and it didn’t seem to bother him.

Cassie’s dad is a supervisor back in Tishomingo County, and he had a float in the Tishomingo city parade this Saturday. Luke rode on the float with Cassie’s mom, and Cassie, Liam, and I watched from the street. I’ll post some pictures that I took when I get a chance.

Luke and Liam went to the pediatrician yesterday. It was Luke’s 18 month checkup and Liam’s 2 month checkup. I was eager to see what Liam weighed compared to Luke at his age. He seemed to be gaining weight faster than Luke.

As it turns out, Liam weighs exactly, to the ounce, what Luke weighed at his two month checkup (12 lbs, 13 oz). He is also 23.5 inches long, 1/4″ shorter than Luke at that age. He was born 4 oz. lighter and 3/4″ shorter than Luke, so he’s doing a good job of playing catch up.

Now it’ll be interesting to see where Liam goes from here. At some point Luke’s growth absolutely exploded. Liam’s current numbers put him in the 50-75th percentile in weight and height. Luke is now 28 lbs, 6 oz and 33.4 inches tall, which put him around the 90th percentile in both categories.

Both boys got some shots yesterday. They both handled them well. Liam actually didn’t start crying until the second one.

The last couple of nights Liam has slept for four hours or longer at a stretch. I’m not willing to say it’s permanent just yet, but I’m hopeful.

Luke is still sleeping through the night, and seems to be sleeping more soundly as of late. In the not too distant future we’re going to try him in his own bed. Yes, he’s sleeping in the bed with us, if I haven’t mentioned that before.

If I could give one bit of advice to new parents, it’s “Don’t even think about letting your child sleep with you.” It’s next to impossible to get them out once you start it. We learned our lesson and Liam is sleeping is his bassinet, which seems to be getting smaller by the day.