Family Day

Traditionally we try to use the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a family day before the Thanksgiving festivities begin. The past 2 years this has been disrupted by Lukas being sick. Thankfully this year we got all the sickness out of the way last week, so we were good to go for a fun day. We decided to go to the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park since we are Dallas Zoo members and can get in for free. They've redone the whole thing, and it's nice. In Lukas' opinion the coolest part was "sting ray bay" where you get to pet the sting rays. It's not huge, so don't plan an all day affair out of it, but it works well for something short and sweet. After the aquarium we walked around Fair Park a bit. I had no idea there was more down there than just a couple museums, the music hall, and the state fair once a year. It's actually quite pretty. We then tackled lunch at Fudruckers and came home for naps.





















Showing off his souvenir.

Love...

Teeth

Corina has teeth! Her first tooth came in November 8th. It was the one on the bottom, middle left. We're unsure exactly when her second tooth officially broke through, but it wasn't more than 3 or 4 days later. It was the bottom, middle right one.

According to the doctor, as of November 22nd she is working very hard to get both top middle teeth through, as well as the two bottom teeth on either side of the two middle teeth she already has.

Teething has brought with it ear trouble for her (just like Lukas). If she gets another flat tympanogram, we'll be seeing the ENT about possible tubes. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I was hoping to avoid it.

Stomach Bug 2010

The stomach bug hit the Swayne house hard this year.

It started with Corina.



Then moved on to Eric. Then found it's way to Lukas, and he got hit the hardest.

For Lukas, day 1 went pretty well. He didn't feel great, but not awful.



By day 2 he was dehydrated, lethargic, and completely unlike himself.



The doctor sent us to the Flower Mound ER. If you live near here and need an ER, go here. They are connected to Medical Center Lewisville, so if you need a hospital they'll send you.

Lukas received 3 rounds of IV fluids, IV Zofran plus a prescription, 4 popsicles (although he only ate 2 whole ones, and a bite out of the other 2), and juice. He got rock star treatment since he was (I think anyway) the only one there.

Getting his fluids.



A weak smile for a popsicle.



He'll go back to the doctor tomorrow to be re-evaluated, and hopefully he'll be back to his normal self in a couple days.

3.5 Years Old

I thought it was time to include some of the things Lukas has accomplished since I did his 3 year old post.

Lukas at 3.5 years:
- weighs about 29 lbs
- is about 39.5 in tall
- can navigate his computer games mostly without anyone's help.
- is reading at some level slightly beyond word recognition. If he tries to read (sound it out) he can't do it, but if he just looks at it (small words of course) then he's reading them.
- asks some really complicated conceptual questions, but understands and applies the answers.
- is potty trained while awake, but still working on at night.
- has a mind of his own. He will lead the pack or follow the leader just so long as he's having fun.
- is a negotiator. He has a reason for every action, and will tell you exactly why something needs to happen a certain way. Example of a recent coversation: Lukas: "Daddy, can I watch tv when we get home?" Eric: "No. When we get home, it's time to take a nap." Lukas (without missing a beat): "I want to sleep in my pajamas." Eric: "Okay. If you're still awake when we get home, we'll put on your pajamas." Lukas: "So, while I'm putting on my pajamas, I can watch tv?" We both nearly fell over laughing because the logic of his argument came so natural, and it was a pretty good one too.
- can (and does) talk to anything and everything. He never stops unless he's sick or asleep.
- is absolutely amazing with Corina. He loves her so much, at least until she tries to play with his toys. At that point, he tells me she needs to go in her excersaucer or jumper.
- is learning Spanish at school, and will now use the Spanish words interchangeably with the English ones.
- has the largest imagination! It is so fun to watch him play as he creates worlds and stories for his dinosaurs, knights, dragons, puppets, etc.
- has seemingly found his daily asthma medicine. In September, he was started on Dulera and it has made a huge difference. After starting it (and getting over a cold right after starting it) he went 3 weeks without needing Albuterol (the rescue med). To those that do not know him very well, this is quite possibly the first time this has ever happened. I'm now seriously praying that the good fortune of the first month on the medicine continues because he asthma hasn't ever been this controlled.
- is simply amazing! At the risk of sounding like an over-generous parent, he does things everyday that are just amazing. Things I didn't know he could do. He understands things that I had no idea he would get. He says things that make you think. Example of that came the other day when he told me "Mommy, God put the joy deep in our hearts. We need to keep it there." For him it was a completely random comment, but for me it was a deep profound moment.
- loves his Mommy, Daddy, and sister more and more every day!!








Lukas singing "Twinkle Twinkle".

7 Months Old

Corina turning 7 months snuck up on me. All of the sudden I looked at the date and wow, she was 7 months old. Usually I watch the dates closer than that to see it coming. Oh well, we've been really busy!

Corina at 7 months old:
- weighs about 16 lbs.
- is between 26.5 and 27 inches long. My oh-so-accurate measurement with a wiggly baby and measure tape.
- is true crawling (10-18-10) everywhere...and getting rather fast at it.
- is pulling up to her knees.
- will wave at you sometimes.
- laughs at more and more things, and the better she feels the more she laughs.
- provided she feels good, is still the most laid back baby in the world.
- observes everything.
- likes technology as much as Lukas.
- enjoys reading books.
- is still battling reflux, but we've got it mostly under control.
- loves watching and playing with Lukas. She thinks he is hilarious and amazing. I wonder how long that will last....I hope a while.
- loves Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!