OK, back to reality. Another Christmas has come and gone, but as you all know, this one was special for us as it was our little boy's first. The romantic in me thinks that Max got treated to a wonderful day with loving family and friends. The scientist in my wonders if he truly got the sense anywhere in his tiny developing brain that Tuesday was different from any other day. He almost certainly will be a little more geared up for next Christmas, when his present-opening muscles will be a little more defined and he will actually be able to have more than one thing for dinner. However, regardless of how Max saw Christmas Day, Holly and I and everyone else in the extended Ottawa family enjoyed personally introducing him to the annual tradition. And, as it turns out, many people not in town enjoyed spoiling him rotten from a distance!!
The week started with a visit to the office on Christmas Eve, where a brunch was set out for employees and their families. It was nice to be able to meet the families of the people with whom I work. Max was introduced to Santa Claus
who was kind enough to pause for a picture before scampering off to deliver his gifts around the world. I had heard that when children meet the big guy, they tend to cry a lot...perhaps overwhelmed with the daunting task of whittling those long lists down to a few items that they truly want. However, Max is a real pro with strangers and cuddled right next to the bowl full o' jelly. Unfortunately, I think he telepathically asked Santa for more snow, which SC decided to ho-ho-hold off on until today. I. can't. wait. to. shovel. it. Thanks, O bearded one.
After a brief visit with Holly's mom and Auntie K-squared, we all went home to put the finishing touches on our Christmas preparations at home. As if to prepare us for early C
hristmas wake-ups to come ("Mommy! Daddy! Can we open presents yet?? [5 am]), Max decided to interrupt our sleep a couple of times early Christmas morning with gas. As it turns out, though, he was just getting rid of the bad so that he had nothing but good left to give for the rest of the day. When we finally did get up, Max and I shared some fun wake-up time in his chair in the kitchen while I did some dishes. Clearly, he was ready for whatever the day would throw at him!We went over to Grandma H's for stockings just after 10 am. Max got a bunch of fun treats, including a crazy teething toy that, technically, he got for the first time the
day before and fell in love with then. Well, as it turns out, Max still liked the toy a lot (see picture) and, upon being reacquainted, got right back to chewing on it. Toward the bottom of his stocking, Max also found a bear that, when wound, played music out of a music box inside itself while moving its head in lazy circles. Max also fell in love with the bear's tunes and decided to make the bear his best friend. Well, until he got hungry again at which point Mom (the default best friend) won out again.
After a quick wardrobe change, Max took a stand (assisted,
of course) and demanded food. So Holly fed Max and the family got stuffed on some yummy eggs benny. Present time ensued, with everybody spoiling everybody. Highlights included two gifts for Grandma H from Max that were bought by...Grandma H herself. This included an inspirational candle letting Grandma know how special Max felt she was and that she was "the one he loves more and more each day", that it was her "vitality and wisdom" that kept him going. Awesome. Max also scored a sled, some wonderful books, and some nice outfits while Holly and I were offered multiple date nights with babysitting included - what a great idea!
After prezzies, I took Max for a stroll in the beautiful zeroish weather. By the time I got back, his great-grandpa D had arrived at the party and so Max got a great chance to hang out with him for a while. For some reason, Max's great-grandpa has an amazing calming effect on him - we were able to plop Max on his lap for about half an hour and let the two of them catch up on old times. Then, the T-Man and his family arrived for a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I even ate brussel sprouts. Holly was mighty jealous as brussel spouts are one of her favourite foods and she can't eat them these days due to the potential gaseous effect on Max. In the end, Max had a great time with everybody. Here are some other pictures of Max with members of his Ontario family. Thanks to everyone here for treating Max to such a wonderful first Christmas! Stay tuned for the next post, where I'll cover some of the out-of-town spoilage that happened this Christmas.
1 comment:
You are one darn fine looking family! And, I particularly love how Max has multiple Christmas outfits, so he can spit up to his heart's content. Sweet!
Post a Comment