December 29th, 2009 – Jack’s First Christmas!

At 50 weeks old, Jack’s week couldn’t have been more of a doozy if it had been his 52^nd week, also known as his first birthday.  The week of Christmas was full of family, excitement, family traditions, and new experiences.  In addition to the family festivities that revolve around Baby’s First Christmas, there were of course, Little Man’s little every day happenings that add up to one fun filled adventure after another.

Jack’s latest and greatest learning activity is pointing.  Jack loves to point at objects whether it is Daddy’s nose or Pippi’s tail or an illustration in a book, Jack is all about letting his fingers do the talking.  This talent came in especially handy on Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve.  As a fun ramp up to the holidays, we decided to drive out to Hidden Springs after Daddy came home to look at Christmas lights.  We listened to the holiday musical stylings of Bing Crosby and Dean Martin while Baby Man, all snug as a bug in his puppy adorned footy pjs gazed out the window in awe, pointing at various colorful light displays.

After about an hour of driving around and soaking up the holiday spirit like never before, it was time to head home send Jack off to the Land of Nod.  He would need his rest because Christmas Eve marked beginning of what would prove to be a very stimulating, exciting, and long holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve day was very special.  Daddy had the day off from work!  So, we spent the morning together as a family, like any other day, but after breakfast, we piled into the car and headed off to JaNae and Kiera’s house.  We had picked out a very special gift for Kiera for Christmas, which was a Disney Princess purse with all of the appropriate accessories.  JaNae and Michael, Kiera’s parents, received an original Star Wars movie poster from the 20^th anniversary re-release into theatres.  They have a movie theatre like we do in our home so it was a very appropriate gift.  JaNae called Christmas day to tell us all how much they loved their gifts.  Kiera had spent the whole day riding around on her new tricycle with her Princess Purse hanging from the handle bars.

After Jack’s nap, it was play time.  So, Mommy and Jack played while Daddy documented the day on video.  This was very fortuitous because as we were playing, Jack stood without holding onto anything for the very first time!  He had been maneuvering around his play yard, an activity he has become very adept at, and then, all of sudden, as if it were no big deal, he just let go of the sides.  After a moment he grabbed back on with one hand, but stood he did all by himself.

Later that day, Mommy made even more Christmas cookies.  I had made two dozen just two days before, but they were for Daddy to take to work so I made more so we could have some for Santa and his little elf.  After the cookies were baked, Jack, Mommy, and Daddy all sat down together to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.  Afterwards, it was time for dinner, but before dinner, it was time for the traditional opening of one Christmas gift each.  Jack opened up a pair of puppy pjs, Daddy opened up a pair of green plaid pjs, and Mommy opened up a Boise State hoodie.  After opening up presents, it was time for dinner.  Jack ate a jar of his Turkey Dinner and Mommy and Daddy waited to order a pizza.

After eating, Jack changed into his cozy puppy pjs.  We posed for a few pictures and read his My First Christmas Board Book.  Jack spent some time exploring the Christmas tree and discovering some of the fun things about the holiday, such as Christmas Bows! Then it was time to settle in for a warm winter’s sleep.

Once Jack was snuggled in tight, Mommy and Daddy snuggled and watched our annual Christmas Eve movie, Love Actually. We enjoyed the peace and quiet before the rush of holiday activities that were to come the next morning.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started off much like any other morning.  Jack woke up singing in his crib and Mommy and Daddy went in to say “Good morning”, but due to the special occasion, of course we included “Merry Christmas”.  While Daddy took a shower and got dressed, Mommy changed Jack into his Christmas pjs that Oma had given him the month before so he would be both comfy and festive.  Then Mommy got dressed herself.  Then, Jack played in his play yard while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed our morning coffee and Coffee Pound Cake from Costco.

Finally, it was time for opening of the stockings.  Since Jack is still little, Mommy had to help him.  While Mommy was helping Jack with his stocking from Santa, Daddy was taking pictures, and there was a tripod set up in the corner to record the whole event. We didn’t want to miss a moment of Jack Jack’s first Christmas.

Jack opened a lot of gifts.  I’m sure Mommy and Daddy went a little over board, but we really couldn’t help ourselves.  Last year we were more excited about Jack’s arrival than we were about Christmas and this year, it was like having Christmas for the very first time because Jack was experiencing it for the first time.  To top it off, Jack is finally at an age where he really enjoys book and playing.  So, on Christmas morning, Jack opened up:

Stocking

• Bath toys:

• A fish that scoops up water through its mouth and then drips out of its fins

• A set of small toys that spit water, a blue octopus, a multi colored fish, a red crab, and a green sea turtle.

• Banana flavored bits
• 2 color changing Gerber sippy cups

Under the Tree

• A hand carved Tweety puzzle box from Abuela and Grandpa Washington.
• V-Tech Discovery Nursery Farm and an Alligator on wheels from Grandma Cavanagh and Aunt Jentry
• 2 striped fleece pullovers
• 4 books: Goodnight Moon, What Snowmen Do at Night, Baby Night Night, and Runaway Bunny (with a special inscription from Mommy and Daddy)
• Bath toy corner caddy
• Fisher Price ball popper
• Baby Einstein Animal Crawl Through Tunnel
• An elephant for his Safari scene
• Parents Busy School Activity Cube (Which was Jack’s big gift)

After breakfast and a belated morning nap, Jack was roaring to play with his Christmas spoils.

The afternoon ended on a very good note with a call to Grandma Cavanagh, Aunt Jentry, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Blair.  For Christmas they received a DVD with a photo montage set to Jack’s favorite song Fireflies by Owl City, and about an hour of cute video footage of Jack from the past few months.  They were all headed to movie theatre at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Blair’s retirement home to watch it on the “big screen”.  They couldn’t wait to see their favorite little red head in action.

Christmas Evening: Grandad and Nana’s House

After Jack’s afternoon nap, for which he didn’t rise from until early evening, we packed up and headed off to Grandad and Nana’s house.  After a short mini meltdown due in part to a dirty diaper and stranger anxiety, Jack was all about showing off just how cute he is to all who would look.  While Mommy and Daddy ate Christmas dinner of turkey, ham, stuffed mushrooms, and green beans, Jack ate a yummy Christmas Spaghetti dinner with a fine spattering of Cheerios thrown in for good measure and apple juice to wash it all down.

After dinner, it was time to open gifts.  Nana and Grandad gave Jack a Fisher Price Cookie Jar, alphabet blocks, a musical caterpillar on wheels, and a lion finger puppet board book.  Jack had so much fun playing with treasures.  He especially loved the cookie because as we all know; one of Little Man’s favorite activities is to put little things in bigger things.  So the cookie jar was right up his  alley.

Unfortunately, due to the late hour and Jack’s quickly approaching bed time, we couldn’t stay and play for too long, but needless to say, Jack’s first Christmas was certainly memorable and with festivities awaiting the next morning Oma’s house, it most certainly wasn’t over yet.

Oma and Grandpa’s House

Bright and early for Christmas part 3, Mommy and Daddy headed out to Oma’s house with Baby Jack in tow.  Of course Jack was wearing the adorable and quite festive Christmas sweater that Oma had given him for just this occasion.

When we arrived, Oma, Grandpa, Aunt Ali, Cousin Carson, Aunt Shawna, and Aunt Miranda were all there.  Cousin Carson was very excited to see Jack, but despite Jack’s styling example, Carson refused to wear his Christmas sweater.  After a quick breakfast, we all headed up stairs to begin the Christmas activities.  Oma was more than generous with the goodies she and Grandpa had picked out for Jack.  His stocking had not only contained a darling Winnie the Pooh Christmas mug and a Mickey and Minnie Christmas plate, but a large green stuffed frog in the style of a sock monkey.

The best part about Christmas is family; the wonderful feeling of togetherness and sharing in the laughter and joy of the season.  This was best captured when Jack and Carson began playing “cars” together.  Jack doesn’t have any cars that he can play with yet because he is too young, but while crawling around on the floor with his cousin, they began to play with Carson’s stocking stuffers, cars.  Jack sat next to Carson, holding two cars up in the air.  He didn’t understand what he held in his hands were mini representations of what we drive in to get to Oma’s house, but he did understand that they were fun.  He also understood how much Carson enjoyed them.  So, very much in Jack fashion, he kept giving the cars back to Carson and smiling and very much in Carson fashion, Carson showed Jack how they drove around on the floor and then would hand them back with a very proud smile.

It only made sense to Carson, that while Jack was eating his breakfast in his highchair, he would be very entertained by and interested to see his latest moving and noise making car courtesy of Aunt Danielle.  Unfortunately, Jack was a little disturbed by having tires squealing on Cheerios.

By this time, the rest of us would have been more than happy to ship the car back to Aunt Danielle, who was in Arizona on Air National Guard duty, as the car seemed to be a constant noise maker in the hands of its two year old owner. At the very least, while we were attempting to play “Hide the Car from Carson”, we all wished Aunt Danielle had chosen a less loud toy, like the one Little Man received: peek-a-boo stacking blocks.

Fun, family, and presents, there were certainly a great deal of all three.  If Mommy and Daddy had thought that we had spoiled Jack, we most certainly forgot about the spoiling prerogatives of a grandparent.  In fact, the spoiling prerogative of the whole family were in full swing on this particular day leaving Mommy and Daddy with double the packages to open, although by the end of the day, I think Jack was beginning to get the hang of tearing into packages.

From the Fisher Price Kitchen and Family Room electronic learning crawl through, to the Fisher Price pull phone, and the walker/scooter Mommy and Daddy knew they had their work cut out for them when it came not only to loading the car, but eventually rearranging the playroom and play space in the living room to accommodate Jack’s new toys.

Fortunately, most of the toys had a home/farm theme making it easier to decide what goes where.  The red Fisher Price tractor from Aunt Ali and Cousin Carson eventually made its way into the playroom while the home themed items currently live in the living room’s play area.  However, not all the gifts Jack received were toys.  Oma and Grandpa Turner also gave Jack a framed and matted print of Michelangelo’s “touching the hand of God” (which is in a very prominent place in the living room) and a blue track suit. Although, the material gifts were very much appreciated and are most certainly enjoyed, the best gift that day was the fun we all had being together as a family.

After all the fun and festivities, the day ended, like most days, with a bath.  The only difference being, Jack had his new bath toys to explore and play with.

The rest of the holiday weekend would have gladly been spent at home, lounging lazily about and enjoying one another’s company.  Unfortunately, when either Mommy or Daddy begins a project, we have a hard time resting until that project is finished and the project for the weekend was the assembly of our home theatre; this particular weekend that meant two trips to Costco when we had originally planned to avoid this holiday retail trap.

Although Costco can be beyond chaotic on the best of days, it appeared as if most people shared in our original plan and stayed home.  This made our unplanned family outing all the more enjoyable.  It even provided an occasion for Jack to wear his new track suit!  The only that would have made the trip even better is if our purchase of Vizio Sound Bar had actually fit in the trunk of our Honda Accord.  Unfortunately, it didn’t.  So, thankfully, Mommy is small and was able to fit in the back while the sound bar took my place in the front seat and then some.  Jack didn’t seem to mind.  In fact, he seemed quite happy to have Mommy as a travel companion.  After a quick trip over to Grandad and Nana’s to pick up a fruit basket Mommy had forgotten about on Christmas, we were headed back home.

So, while Daddy assembled the Threatre a couple of times, Mommy packed away all of the Christmas decorations.  Jack had it pretty easy as his only task was to enjoy all of his loot.

The arrival of Monday not only marked the return to work for Daddy, but the beginning of organizational projects around the house for Mommy.  With all of the Christmas decorations packed securely away until next year, it was time to do some serious deep cleaning of the house and room making for the various additions that were acquired over the holidays.  This task primarily included the overhaul of the playroom.

Since Jack began crawling, he hasn’t spent any time in his playroom because it needed to be baby proofed.  His row of three bookshelves that kept all of his toys organized and neat looked great and was incredibly functional when he didn’t have the ability to pull them down on top of himself, but have since transformed into nothing short of a hazard.  So, before Jack could enjoy his playroom and some of his new toys, Mommy had to rework the room to make is safe and fun, but for the time being, his living room place space would have to suffice.  This was just fine with Jack, especially after Daddy assembled his Kitchen that Oma and Grandpa Turner gave him for Christmas.

Mommy mentioned earlier that two trips were made to Costco after the holidays.  Well, the second trip took place today.  Monday night, when Mommy and Daddy were settling in after Jack had gone to bed, we became aware that the sound bar we had purchased over the weekend wasn’t working.  As a result, we needed to exchange it for a new one.  So, Mommy made sure Jack was all bundled up and ready to head off to Costco for an odd weekday trip out of the house.

It was definitely a very eventful and fun filled week.  Mommy and Daddy can hardly believe we survived such a whirlwind of activity, but couldn’t have had any more fun.  Parents had always said, before we had Jack, that having a child allows you to relive the best parts of your childhood and there was never a truer example of that than Christmas.  The holidays season can seem so overwhelming, but with the addition of little Jack in our lives, Mommy and Daddy are already counting down the days to Jack’s second Christmas because as magical as this first Christmas was, we know they will only get better.

Fun Photo Extras

For Christmas Mommy received a new “point and shoot” camera.  So, just like before I have been taking pictures like mad, only now they’re of a better quality.  Here are just a few of my favorites. . .