Christmas Day

My head is full of posts this week - and so after barely making a post a week for the past few months, I'm hoping for almost a post a day this week!

This first one is about Finn's first Christmas - which is really more about my first Christmas as Finn's mom.  Because while Christmas is for children, it's also for parents, especially the first few years.

We flew down to Florida on Christmas Eve.  Flying with a 7 month old is a whole lot harder than flying with an almost 5 month old.  He was so interested in all that was going on around him and was such a little wiggle worm, my arms were exhausted long before we landed! He also looked adorable in his Santa pjs that I had him wear on our flight, so we got lots of attention from everyone - the TSA agents, little old ladies walking through the airport, the guy selling hot dogs, the little girl in the seat behind us on the plane and even the grumpy old man sitting next to us in the waiting area.  The whole experience of plane travel is so different with a baby, exhausting but fun. (Well, fun as long as there are no tantrums and no poop.)

Great-Grandmom and Finn

My sister and her boys had arrived here the day before, and Finn and I were at my parents for less than an hour when the rest of the crew showed up - my aunt, her new fiance and two sons and my grandmom.  It ended up being a fun evening, and Finn charmed everyone, including his great-grandmom.  He did the round of goodnight kisses at the end of the evening, and had hives popping up on his face before he made it to the bed.  A round of benadryl and hugs later, and he was asleep, though I kept the bedside light on so I could easily check in on him obsessively the entire night.  No idea what caused the hives, must have been something that someone ate, but given the amount of food we had, the possibilities are endless.

My sister and I stayed up late wrapping presents and getting ready for Santa.  We were almost ready for bed when I realized that *we* were Santa!  So my sister drank the milk and ate one of the cookies, while I ate one and a half, leaving some crumbs behind.  The stockings were filled, Philip-the-elf-on-a-shelf was moved and we were finally ready for sleep.  (As an aside, I ordered Finn's stocking from a woman on Etsy - I adore it, though I didn't realize it was going to be quite so large!)

The kids woke us up on Christmas morning, though for Finn it was just the usual wake up time.  The morning was full of the usual Christmas insanity - wrapping paper everywhere, gifts galore, yummy breakfast food and, this year, a baby intent on eating all the tissue paper he could get his hands on.

This time last year I was pregnant, and imagining what Christmas would be like this year.  Two years ago, I was about to start my TTC journey.  This year I'm a mom, and for the first Christmas in years, I was truly happy the entire day.  There was no sense of melancholy, no hidden tears in the bathroom between presents and lunch, no wistful longing for a child of my own on Christmas Day.  Every day I look at my boy and find myself loving him even more than I did the day before.  How is that possible?  Finn was just as happy with the new socks in his stocking as he was with the new toys from Santa, and while he's way too young to understand all that was going on, he did have fun and was a joy to watch as he took in all the craziness.

The excitement of the morning wore Finn out, and he (the boy who has fought sleep like the enemy for the past few weeks) gladly took two long naps, giving me time to clean up, and to read and relax.  My brother in law watched Finn while I showered, my dad was happy to play with him while I helped my mom, and Finn spent a lot of time on the floor with his cousins and his new toys.  It was a wonderful day.  Dinner was another huge family affair, and Finn ate his avocado with glee while the rest of us had beef tenderloin and way too much pie.

I'm so glad my sister's sons and Finn are going to grow up together.  D is the oldest, and while he's too young to always be patient with the younger two, he is very interested in all they do, and does try to be a good big brother/older cousin.  Oliver is only a year older than Finn, and so goes between being fascinated by him and being threatened by him.  Turns out, he acts the same way towards Finn no matter how he's feeling: trying to sit on him, crawl on him and generally smother him with affection.  Finn actually pushed back a time or two, so I'm thinking he's going to be able to hold his own in no time.

And now my sweet boy is stirring in the other room, so it's time for me to head off to bed!  Merry Christmas!