Jack's First Christmas

Jack did NOT care for Wiley's annoying monkey toy. It makes me want to cry too!

Whoa! Sensory overload! So many presents!

Jack LOVES to read. Current favorites are the Llama Llama books

Christmas is always a fun time of year. I love being with my family. I love getting all cozy, eating a huge meal and opening presents. But this year, Christmas was even better because we got to see it through Jack's eyes.

When school let out the Friday before Christmas, I was both excited and nervous. Excited because I had two weeks off with my boys and we were going to Florida to celebrate Christmas with my family. Nervous because we were going to Florida--by CAR! After much deliberation, we decided that two parents, one grandpa, one baby, all of our stuff and gifts both to bring down and to bring back, would be a little much for a plane. We were too nervous to try to juggle all of that. Yet driving added another element. Sure we drove down to Florida in the summer. But at that point, Jack was 4 months old and slept 80 percent of the time. I was scared that our now mostly awake nearly 11 month old, who loves to play CONSTANTLY, would not be too happy about being strapped into a car for 15+ hours.

But Jack was a champ. He didn't cry except for when he was trying to fall asleep. Since he could flip over to his tummy, he has not slept one night on his back. Trying to relearn how to fall asleep on your back, and strapped into a confining carseat, no less is a much different story. He didn't nap too much but was easily entertained by books, toys and, thankfully, the DVD player we borrowed from a co-worker that strapped on the back of the headrest! He didn't seem to find it annoying at all that he kept watching the same episodes of The Wonder Pets. And he did learn that he LOVES Cracker Barrell! He can eat off of the children's menu now and he thinks that's pretty cool. We did have FOUR stops at the Cracker Barrell, since it was the only restaurant where we could sit down and have a meal (a must for both infants and grandpas!). Not only did he love his food, but he was quite the charmer, waving at people to get their attention and then grinning his huge grin at them. We had numerous people stop and talk to him or tell us what a good boy he was. I, of course, hated that!

When we arrived in Florida, the disruption of routine finally got to Jack. For the first two days of the trip, not only was he not acting himself but he was acting the most unlike himself that I had ever seen. You couldn't drag a smile out of him. He snapped out of it in time for Christmas Eve and was happy the rest of the time. He did pretty well for sleeping in hotels, sleeping in a crib and room that were unfamiliar, meeting all sorts of new people, etc. He did a great job at opening his gifts (and there were a LOT of them!) and loved playing with his new toys.

He also used the break to truly fine tune his clapping skills, as he seemed to like to celebrate everything: getting a new toy, eating a Cheerio, etc. He also fine tuned his sign language. Just before we left, he finally grasped "More" and began using it to really communicate. However, now that clapping is so much fun, the two signs have kind of merged together and I am not sure if he is proud, happy or hungry.

The kid is just a joy and it's so fun to be able to take my little buddy everywhere. Each day, he seems to learn and understand more. He has a good sized list of words that he understands. He babbles a lot and, I think he is close to pairing "dada" with Paul and "mommom" with me but he isn't quite there yet. We just enrolled in a class called "Kindermusik", a kids' music class. Jack loves music and I thought that it would be interesting for him, a good way to socialize him with other kids and potentially a good way for me to meet other moms. Not to mention a fun thing to do together. We went for a free trial class and I was curious to see how he would react. Being with his grandma all day, he hasn't had much exposure to other kids. He also has been going through a shy phase and I didn't know how it would all go. We got there early and he started playing with the instruments right away. Then a little girl walked in. He crawled right up to her and then promptly smacked her in the face. He'll have to work on his flirting skills but he was definitely really interested in the other kids. In fact, he started to throw a mini tantrum when I pulled him away from one of the other kids. I look forward to future sessions and seeing him learn and meet new people and have new experiences.

Every day with Jack is a wonderful adventure and though 2009 was a rough year for so many people, it was the best year of my life. I look forward to every new adventure with him. Up next: his first birthday! How time flies!