2008 Holiday Season

We like holidays. In fact, most anything (other than illness) that means extra time can be spent at home vs at work has to be good. The season starts with the Winter Solstice which we celebrated asmidge early. The weather reports stated the weather would get colder and colder as we passed over the solstice weekend. So we opted to make a trek to the zoo on Saturday evening. We bundled J up in his cozy bunting and yak-wool (a gift from T's time in Nepal - I assume yak wool but I could be wrong). TheWildlights were wonderful. I wish we'd gone before! We'll definitely make it a yearly trek.
J wasn't thrilled about his stroller, but that's becoming the norm. We held him and alternated walking around looking at the lights with visiting indoor exhibits. J really liked the fish and the elephants most. It was quite cold so we stayed just over an hour and then headed home. The wind was really picking up when we left so it was good timing. J slept like a champ that night - we need to get him outside more often. I remember longingly how he slept through the night every night June - August when we'd take nightly walks.

We traveled "home" to western PA for Christmas. We were house guests/sitters which worked out wonderfully. Our first morning in town we battled ice to visit a high school friend with a brand new baby girl. I think we'll try to make that a regular visit; it was a lot of fun. They also have a 4 year old girl. And while Billie is still on maternity leave and only has 1 dog she gets way too much accomplished! A 2 month old & 4 year old but she makes her own bread, jam, etc. I'd love to do that but I can barely even get the dishes & laundry done. I need to get this figured out.
The first holiday event was Christmas Eve at my aunt's home. It replaces the good ole days of parties at my grandparents' - all night parties complete with makeshift bar on the washer & dryer. Gotta love that! J got to meet his cousin who is 4 weeks younger than him. It was the first little one his own age that he's gotten to meet. They were intrigued with one another but before they could play gifts were brought out. J's favorite . . . the blue ribbon on one of the gifts. I kept it and used it to appease him during diaper changes the whole time we were there. That was a late night but J slept the whole way through to morning and then we headed out to my mom's. My niece and nephew had been up since 6am staring at the gifts Santa had brought. I didn't even see my nephew open his - he was too fast. J got a newcarseat and of course toys. We returned home on Saturday to pick up kitty, then the pups on Sunday. How quickly we went back to normal (aka hectic). You'd think the holidays would be more hectic than day-to-day.

New Years was uneventful. While we were up around midnight with J, we did not see the ball drop or have a drink or anything like that. It's not like we are normally big party goers or anything but we normally at least stay up to welcome in the new year. We tried everything in the 'No Cry Sleep Solution' book so we've moved on to some crying solutions for J. He's had to cry it out a few times. Last night was the worst (probably for me more than him) but he calmed down and fell asleep and stayed asleep all night. My mom insists that this is better for everyone but I'm dubious. I feel evil. I'm working on getting over it though. I can attest that J is not sad - he's mad. Last night we went in, rocked him to sleep (3x for D followed by 1x for me) but he'd wake up every time he was placed in his crib. He would kick his legs and yell. He was just mad so I kissed him and said goodnight and left. Why must learning to sleep be so difficult?!?!?

Anyway, overall the holidays were very nice. I was concerned J would not travel well but he was awesome. He got a new tooth while we were out-of-town and even with teething he was super. I'm looking forward to being more social and outgoing with him this winter and spring.
I wanted to include photos from Wildnights, Christmas, etc but I forgot my card reader at my mom's in PA. She is in Vegas until next week so it'll be awhile. I could find the cable to my camera and connect directly but finding that may take as long. I will upload photos, they'll just be a bit belated.