The Neal Family

(Not to worry, grandparents--your copies are on the way!)

Hysterical. Patrick was watching while I did dishes this morning and up comes this little parody. I laughed myself silly and then thanked YouTube for the opportunity to share the fun with ya'll. (Kearis, you'll especially love this one!)

Hysterical. Patrick was watching while I did dishes this morning and up comes this little parody. I laughed myself silly and then thanked YouTube for the opportunity to share the fun with ya'll. (Kearis, you'll especially love this one!)

This is the whole crew. Seven siblings, five spouses, four (and 1/2) grandkids, two parents, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Last night, Miss Kennedy started screaming hysterically right after I published my post about her. The crying also coincided rather unfortunately with the start of "The Office," which was quite sad to me, considering that we're the last people in America without DVR. Anyway, she was clearly in a lot of pain and the crying carried on and on and on, with brief naps in mom or dad's arms into the wee hours of the morning. It was bad, but I chalked it up to feeding her something that didn't agree with her tummy and/or more teething. I had finally declared an ultimatum that if she wasn't asleep within an hour (this was around 3:30 AM) we were going to the ER or an instacare to figure out what on the earth was wrong with our poor baby. She was just miserable and none of our efforts to help were working. Following my declaration I tried to put her in the bathtub, in hopes of soothing her tummy, which prompted more screaming, so I finally got in the shower with her, where she fell asleep in my arms. It was a little difficult to get everyone dry and dressed again, but she stayed mostly asleep and crashed after that. It was bad.
So, I cancelled our picture taking appointment at JCP this morning, she took two great naps and was fairly happy all day and we headed off to our 3 PM doctor's appointment, where I learned the source of all the crying--double ear infections! I never even thought of that--she hasn't ever had any ear trouble and hasn't even been sick lately. Just the teething, or so I thought. So, she's started on her amoxicillan (which takes me back to my childhood, just smelling it) and is on constant Motrin and we're praying for a better night tonight.
Before we found out about the ears, we were able to have a well-baby checkup though and things look really good. Sizewise, Kennedy's apparently to be destined to be a shrimp. She weighs 17 lb 3 oz (about 25th percentile) and is 27 inches long (about 40th percentile). She fell from the 50th percentile in both at her six month check, to this month's numbers but our pediatrician is not concerned considering how mobile she has become in the last few months and her genetics (I think that's code for "really short mom").
She's on target or above for all her gross and fine motor milestones, as well as the language and social milestones. She's doing really well and that makes for a happy mommy--it's nice not to have much to worry about. Unfortunately, the heart murmur is still very present so I'm not totally off the hook for worries. I've come to terms with it, mostly, and know that all will be OK in the end. In the meantime, I guess we'll tackle the ear infection and deal with the rest when it comes our way.

Dear Kennedy,
Well, here we are again! You're 3/4 the way through your first year today! You've also reached the "longer-out-than-in" point in your short life, which is something. These nine months have been much more fun than the first nine, at least for mom!You're definately growing on up, little Miss. You can crawl almost faster than Patrick can, and have an eagle eye for little tidbits left on the floor. To my knowledge, in the last month you have consumed many leftovers from meals off the floor, half of a pencil eraser, a fruit snack off the ground at the park (!), and some fur from a teddy bear. Yum-O. You love to stand up at all times, and lock you knees when I try to sit you down. You stand in the crib, at the train table, by the couch, and at your walking toy. You have taken many steps with the walker and holding on to our hands and just think you are So Big every single time. All of your movement is smoother now, from crawling to sitting, to your knees, and up on your feet. It's suddenly no big deal, where last month those things were a lot of work.

And I mean that in more ways than two. Patrick and Kennedy decided to spice up the morning, making it even more historic in their own little ways, by a) drinking a whole bottle of children's Motrin prompting my first call to Poison Control, and b)removing one's own soiled diaper while in the crib for a nap. You can imagine which child performed which feat. The good news is that the Motrin drinker will be just fine due to his age and weight, and the diaper remover had the good sense to start screaming her head off rather than consume the contents of the diaper. An historic day, to be sure.

*Update* Also? Kennedy cut her first tooth sometime during all the activity this morning. Her "inaugural" tooth is in!

"Hey, Mom! Check me out! Better hurry and push all these buttons before Patrick gets home and takes over my toy again..."
"Hmmm, wonder if I could stand up here, all by myself? Worth a try, right? "

I have not printed one single photo since before Christmas? LAST year? As in, Christmas of 2007 photos, up till the present Christmas of 2008 photos are all just stashed on the computer. That would include the birth and first 8.5 months of my daughters life. Yikes. I'm starting a major Snapfish upload (the true and living way to print photos) today. I'm a little afraid of the dollar total--may have to start tutoring again before I place the order!

So, short of pinning him down bodily and forcing the toothbrush between his sealed lips to contact even a few teeth (the current method), how does one encourage/make a three year old get his teeth brushed regularly? Help me out people--it's killing me and probably not doing much good for his dental health either.

Yep, we're finally home! Here's a quick recap of the last two+ weeks (pictures to follow):

• drove to southern California on the 19th, very late into the night. This was a mistake with our children, who decided not to sleep and instead to cry and fuss nonstop. We finally broke out the newBaby Signing Time DVD's that were supposed to be opened on Christmas and Rachel saved the day, and most likely our children's lives. Finally got there and slept off the drive.
• hung out with Mimi and helped get the house ready for Christmas before the rest of the crew arrived on the 23/24th. Also took much advantage of the jacuzzi and kids who love to swim.
• Some of my siblings arrived throughout the day. The rest of family arrived in the middle of the night. There was much rejoicing that Nana was finally there and the party could officially start. They kicked things off by dressing up as Disney characters and reading "The Pirates Night Before Christmas.
• Had the usual wonderful Christmas Eve Dinner, followed by the Luke II, singing carols at the piano, and leaving cookies for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer.
• Children woke up early to see what Santa had brought. They alternated between sharing nicely and coveting each others toys for the rest of the day. Consumed Christmas morning brunch, followed by the carnage of present opening. The four littlest members of the family opened the bulk of the presents, as usual. Kennedy had to leave to take a nap during this part.
• Took family photos that day. Due to rain, the beach photo shoot was moved indoors/to the backyard. They still turned out great, even for having 18 people in the shot. I still think the funniest one is the "in-law" photo, taken as a joke after we took an original 7 siblings picture. Patrick had to be bribed into cooperation but we managed. He'll do anything for a Slurpee.
• Followed by a blur of beach going, BJ's eating, swimming in the heated pool, park play with the kids, not sleeping enough, Mexican train/Settlers/Sequence playing, Wii, etc. And not sleeping enough.
• Saturday night arrived, and I had a panic attack about the prospect of going home the next morning. Between my mom and my husband who love me, all was resolved and the kids and I got to stay an extra week. Yay!
• More beach going, swimming, playing, and eating ensued for the next few days. Also periodic attempts to dig out from under the carnage and piles of wet pool towels.
• Went to Disneyland on New Year's Day. It was very crowded but still very fun. We love that place, although I like it more with a different parent to child ratio than I had that day. Two kids is a lot of work there!
• All followed by a really ridiculous trip home. Suffice to it say that LAX and I are no longer on speaking terms. In the end we flew from Ontario to Sacramento and my very sweet husband drove to pick us up, so that we could make it home.
• As of this writing I am still unpacking, trying to put away Christmas, and pondering storage solutions for the mountains of new toys and games. It's gonna be a day--wish me luck!

Hope all of your holidays were wonderful! I'm off to check up on everyone and read all about them.