January 6th 2009 - Christmas Break and Birthday Surprise

Wow it has been busy and relaxing at the same time over this Christmas break. It started with Alicia being sick with a cold and a fever, then Linda got it, then I got it. Throughout this little winter sickness Alicia had a variety of aliments including a nasty cough, sneezing, snotty noise, a fever and an ear infection on and off for the better part of three weeks (2 weeks before break started and then 1 week after). Luckily she didn't have all of the symptoms at the same time. Linda was sick during Alicia's second week and I was sick during the entire third week. It turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise, because the three of us were able to lay on the couch and watch numerous Christmas movies and football games together. We also played cards, snuggled a lot, talked and bonded.
The three days of Christmas were wonderful as well. It was great to have a day with family, then family again and then friends. We were able to use a computer program named skype to get in touch with my family back in the States on a couple of different occasions. Believe it or not we were able to open some of Alicia's Christmas presents in front of my parents on the computer. It was special to be able to be with them in some way on Christmas. We were also able to see Alicia's aunts Sue and Val, her uncles Jay and Craig and most importantly her cousins Jamison and little Harley. Alicia must have been an angel this year because she made out with an enormous amount of presents.
My birthday was really great for us. While Linda and I were putting up wallpaper we had Alicia in the little jolly jumper. A jolly jumper is a toy that hangs down from the door frame, that Alicia sits in where she can bounce up and down or turn around. Previously Alicia had not been so active in her jumper. A month and a half ago it was just a big improvement to see her sit up really straight in it, but on my birthday she had a big surprise for me. Not only did she continue to sit up straight she started hopping, and turning and hopping some more. She thought it was so much fun; she could not stop laughing and talking. She just keep dancing and spinning and laughing. It was my best birthday and Alicia was the one that made it so special.
One thing I have learned about Alicia is that when she makes strides in her development, it seems to be really big strides all at once. It has been incredible to watch how far Alicia has come in just the 18 days that I have been off. She is gaining much better balance, more body strength and as one of our friends told us, "Alicia just seems way more with it." Together this break has allowed the family to take it easy, bond and get even closer with each other, as well as meet up with many friends and family. It has been a bit of a growing time for all of us.