December 2019

December ended up being a strange month of illness, vacation time, being between two homes, and of course, Christmas. More photos and videos are in the album linked here.

The Bug (Rob)

The first week of December brought our first big snow storm. It also brought a nasty cold or flu that kept us all home for about a week taking care of each other. Becky ended up with some terrible bronchitis that lasted into January. That wasn't our only bout with illness this winter, and I think it's partly because Alex is in preschool/therapy where he's around other kids.

The Living Situation (Rob)

We signed a lease on an apartment in the Hudson Valley around Thanksgiving, but were kind of slow getting Becky and Alex settled in due to the aforementioned illness. So that process continued into December and January, and Becky and Alex no longer have to stay at AirBnBs during the week. Alex is upgrading from a crib to a car bed there, and most of his toys are there now too. So the apartment living space is mostly centered around him. Meanwhile most of our furniture remains in our house in Endwell, which we've been getting ready for AirBnB guests. Several guests have booked weekends beginning in January. 

Christmas and New Years (Rob)

I took nearly two weeks off work around the holidays. I wore sweats every day and it was great. The first week we were all together at our house in Endwell for Christmas, and the second week we were all together at the apartment in the Hudson Valley. We spent a lot of time working on various projects and relaxing a bit, and also made a couple trips to the Discovery Center. Alex was also sick again. Unfortunately, we didn't get around to hosting any white elephant parties with friends or making cinnamon rolls this year. But we did send Christmas cards and share some homemade hot cocoa mix in fancy jars with a handful of people as a means of spreading Christmas cheer. We opened a few presents Christmas morning, but it was nothing fancy. And Alex opened a few more from the grandparents the next day. He's still figuring out the joy of opening presents, and Santa's not even on the radar yet for him. New Years Eve we had a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse, thanks to gift card I won form a drawing at my credit union (truly a Christmas miracle). 

A Tale of Two Wall-Es (and other Alex updates) (Rob)

We had a new Christmas tree ornament this year that was the Pixar Wall-E character from the Hallmark store. But before we could even put it up on the tree, Alex demanded it and when we finally relented, he would not let it go for days. Of course, he eventually broke it. I decided to get him a similar Wall-E toy that was perhaps a bit less fragile, and glued the ornament back together. When I gave Alex the toy version, he gave it a quick look and tossed it -- he wasn't fooled at all by my trickery.  So we gave into his demands for the ornament Wall-E eventually, which he cherished again, and also broke again before moving on to other toys.  I suspect we'll be gluing that ornament back together for at least a few more Christmases to come.

This month we've seen a big jump in Alex's ability/desire to imitate vocal sounds. Of course, this is the first step toward language development so we're excited. Up to now, he's mostly been learning signs for things he wants (bottle, game, etc.) or for following directions in his therapy. But now we can mix in vocalizations (e.g., ooooh, aaaah, eeee, etc.), and eventually words. You'll see some video below and in our album of Becky doing some of that with him. Anyway, unlike this past year, I think we'll really see a lot of language development with him during this next year.

In other news, he still really likes tractors a lot (and now maybe Pixar Cars a little less). He likes to flip through book pages to find one with a picture of a tractor on it, and then he'll carry it around with him open to that page all day. It's adorable, although a bit cumbersome when you have to load him in the car.

Other News (Rob)

December was Becky's last month working for a speech therapy company in the Binghamton area, which she has been doing on Saturdays while working for another speech therapy company in the Hudson Valley during the weeks. This means beginning in 2020 she and Alex won't have to drive 100+ miles every weekend back to Binghamton. Instead, I will be making that drive to the Hudson Valley, and I'll be adjusting my work schedule to leave early on Fridays and arrive later on Mondays. And on weeknights, I'll be handling the AirBnB stuff. So that's the plan for the foreseeable future in 2020.