Casey was very excited to celebrate Hanukah this year.  

He unwrapped presents & then insisted they be opened immediately

Played with some paper


Then he got to the best present ever.  EVER.  His very own basketball hoop from Great-Grandma (Rubin).  Seriously, he loves it.  He sometimes wakes up in the night saying basketball (sounds like ba-ka-balllll, but we get the point).

Last year, the Rubzukes family spent Christmas Day sleeping due to a horrible stomach virus.   (Rambling vent here:  Then the stupid covering pediatrician tried to tell us Casey didn't have a stomach virus, which he had graciously shared with his parents & later other members of the family, but an ear infection.  I suppose the rest of us had ear infections, too).   This year was much more pleasant.  

Casey opened some presents at home.  He loved the ball popper Santa brought, as well as the rest of his gifts...and the paper.  That was, of course, the best part. 

For breakfast the little man dined on Rice Krispie Treats made specially by Santa's Elves (really, it was Grandma & she sent some home with him on Christmas Eve). 

A bit later we headed over to see what Santa brought the rest of my family.   We brought our swell new camera lens along.  I don't know any details about it, but I like it.  Casey did, too. 

I got some Mommy's Time Out juice, which was fantabulous. 

Casey looked puzzled. 

Then we ate too much, and enjoyed the rest of the day. 

Grandma & Aunt Cristen got Casey a Santa suit to wear for Christmas...but it did not go over well with Casey. He lasted about 30 seconds, screamed, tried to remove it, and then did a little Christmas reading

We attempted to to see Santa...but there was lots & lots of screaming once we got close to him.

This is how far away we had to get for the screams to cease. Santa did smile though.


Rudolph the red nosed Casey on Christmas Eve.

This is not my favorite picture, but it's the one Casey sat still for.

Casey returned to the dr for a recheck, and he's doing swimmingly--breathing sounded good. He also got a couple of shots, so he won't get kicked out of daycare for failure to comply, which is excellent news. He was an excellent patient, and didn't even cry/yelp/make noise when he got stabbed in the arm. He did eat cookies afterward, though. Then he chased his father down the halls while he was on a conference call from the doctor's office hallway. After a short trip to Target, which was mostly unsuccessful, we returned home to dine. At his insistance, Casey ran around the house with no pants until his bath & bed.

Casey is sick. He went to the doctor Wednesday and has a double ear infection, as well as terrible sounding lungs. Among other things, he's on prednisone. Casey on prednisone = Casey doesn't go to sleep. Yes, this can be a side effect of the stuff, but on the pro side it enables him to actually breathe and we don't have to spend time in the hospital.

Here he was all ready for bed, but unable to fall asleep.

Does he look like he's got a double ear infection???

Weekend Update

After all of the pre-Thanksgiving excitement, things have calmed down quite a bit. Casey was back in daycare this week, and I'm not sure who missed whom more. Carrie spent the week home recuperating. We did manage to get the house decorated for Chrismukkah, inside and out. Casey got a much needed haircut, driven by the intent of a picture with Santa, but the lines were too long. Not a total loss as he managed to score some sweet new sneakers. He hasn't been complaining, but we realized that his size 5 and 1/2 feet have been shoehorned into size 5 sneaks for sometime now.

I'm not sure how much he understands about Christmas, but Casey can spot a Santa faster than he can spot a dog (he's like a dogspotting suerhero), and each Santa is marked with a 'ho-ho'. There are no official Hanukkah icons for Casey to associate with, and he is too young to understand Hanukkah Harry or Yenta Claus, but I'm sure will love to eat and/or throw the gelt.

These are the lovely flowers I received from Matt's boss & his family wishing me a speedy recovery.

Saturday we went to a baby shower for Heather & Chad & the new Lewis addition. I left shortly after we arrived home to celebrate Nicole's birthday. We went out in Philly with some other ladies for dinner and drinks. Overall, we had a lovely time. I awoke Sunday morning to a text from Matt...Casey had a bit of a stomach virus. So I made my way home for Matt to leave for his business trip to Canada. Casey & I spent Sunday doing very little, as he slept & drank Pedialyte most of the day. Monday, we hung out at home in order to follow the daycare 24 hour throw up rule (if only all parents followed this rule). Tuesday dawned with some abdominal pain. Casey spent time with both sets of grandparents & both aunts while I spent some time in the ER & then OR having my appendix removed. All babysitters involved claim Casey was well behaved. We thank them all profusely for watching our boy while we were out of commission/out of the country. Matt returned Wednesday, and I left the hospital Wednesday evening.
Thanksgiving was spent at my parents instead of our house due to the events of the week. The food was delish, the company was lovely, and we all had a wonderful time.

Casey started coughing again earlier in the week, and he's sick again. Every time he gets sick, we have breathing issues (I have NO idea where he would have inherited such problems, cough cough). We had an appointment scheduled for yesterday afternoon with a wonderful allergy & asthma specialist (yes, I'm biased because I've been a patient there for 20 years or so) to get him checked out anyway, so we paid them a visit yesterday afternoon. I filled out some paperwork & Casey sat in the chair next to me playing with a few toys. He's usually pretty good, but he was like the model child in the waiting room. He was very good during the consultation and the testing, as well. Seriously, there was no crying, very little whining, and his antics made the dr and nurses chuckle.
Long story short: we were there for about 2 1/2 hours, saw my favorite nurse Cathy, got a plan of action to get Casey's enflamed sinuses under control, got some allergy tests done, and made an appointment to go back in 2 weeks for a recheck/plan of action for the future/possibly more allergy tests. So far Casey is allergic to dogs and ragweed. We're supposed to keep him away from those things & smoke, especially when he's sick.

Pictures from Nov 4-6.  There are also new pictures in posts from Oct 30 and Nov 1

Today, Casey has started sternly saying STOP when he wants me to stop tickling him. I'm finding it pretty entertaining.

Report from prison today was that, instead of roughing someone up as he's been doing this week, he got tired of one of the babies crying. So he stopped what he was doing, found a pacifier, walked to the other side of the room where this kid was crying and, with a look of "you HAVE to stop crying like that kid", stuck the pacifier in the criers mouth. When the kid stopped crying, Casey said "all done".

He's been doing something else for the past couple days, but now I can' remember what it is...so you'll have to wait for that info.

Casey went to vote in the morning with Daddy & in the evening with Mommy.   He made friends with the poll workers and with the man standing in line behind us.  Turns out that guy's daughter is in Grandma's nursery school class.  Small world.  

I keep forgetting to post Casey's height/weight as of his checkup 10/27. He was 31 3/4 inches & 22.6 lbs. He's little, but his 1 year bloodwork was fine & she's not at all concerned.

Casey can blow his nose. He can also turn the TV on with the remote.

EDIT: I just found the paper with the correct info on my desk at work...and correct his height/weight. It's Jan 9. Oops!

Casey got this balloon from a lady at work on Friday. He has been using a punching bag since then. He walked around the house last night like this while I was getting the nebulizer ready for use.

Saturday Caroline came over & hung out for the afternoon. The kids had a great time together, though, which was well worth the whinefest we had later, as Casey wouldn't nap. I have some pictures of them, but they're still on the camera. I will try to post them later today.
Yesterday, Matt went to the Giants game, and Casey & I spent some time with the Zukowski Clan. Caroline LOVES Case and they had a great time together. Their favorite activity was a toss up between chasing each other around the house & doing anything in their power to annoy Papa. :) Congrats to Uncle Jay on finishing the marathon.
This was taken while Caroline made a delicious chocolate chocolate chip cake with Grandma. Casey watched the whole time...and tried to climb up onto the stool Caroline was using. Caroline made a delicious cake.
Now tell me how cute my son & my niece are...