Wow. Wow, wow, wow...
Last year around this time, we had just wrapped up Lyla's second Christmas, in which she delighted in the gift-receiving and post Christmas playtime, but didn't quite "get it." This year, she was reintroduced to Santa Claus and many of the stories that go along with the season, and she was able to participate and enjoy all the hub-bub.
With Flint in tow, now, we weren't able to do quite so many holiday activities as last year, but Luke and I were happy to reduce stress in as many ways as we could. Despite our efforts, however, this holiday was particularly stressful! I think we were both shocked by the overwhelming amount of "stuff" we had to get done! Between shopping, creating, wrapping, attending various "Christmases," visiting friends and family from out of town, designing and sending cards, managing only small amounts of sleep, and occasionally preparing and eating meals, we have been super-pooped!
We started our holiday season off with some photos by the Christmas tree, after decorating it - a process which took only a few days and LOTS of redirecting. Lyla was a big fan of holding Brudder Flint under the tree. Christmas parties started soon afterward with our annual Roommate Christmas at Mac and Kristin's place. Lyla and the kids had a blast with plastic slinkies on their staircase. Who knew those would be so fun!? Once the cousins were off school, we had our annual Cookie-baking Day at Grandma's house. Fortunately, she and Pap had already baked quite a few cookies, so the girls were required only for sugar cookie painting, chocolate chip and peanut-butter cookies. As usual, we ate waaaay too much sugar. While the cookies baked, the kids played their version of football outside in the beautiful 70-degree "winter" weather.
We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandma and PapPap's with Aunt Shannon and family. Lyla was very much overwhelmed by all the happenings and hardly ate a thing all day, causing her overwhelmed-self to completely melt down by nighttime. We saw, quite possibly, the worst and longest bout of upset-Lyla thus far. We figured Santa, however, was too busy to watch, because he still brought all kinds of goodies that night. He brought them very, very late because a certain 2-year old and her baby brother were up very, very late. Very.
We had a lovely Christmas (late) morning, after Mommy fed Flint and started making lots of noise to wake everyone else up. We made arrangements to get to Nonna's house a little later on so we could take our time and enjoy our morning with minimal stress. Lyla did MUCH better working at Quattrochi pace and playing with her presents as she opened them. Among her favorite gifts - her Toy Story figures, Alphie robot and new big-girl bike complete with training wheels and helmet. She had a lot to unwrap that morning, because she had to help Flint (and Maya and Ellie too!). Among Flint's favorites, his fluffy Chewbacca and new bumbo seat. Luke was a big fan of his "sugar lump" present from me:
We made our way to Nonna's later in the afternoon for more gifting, Christmas dinner and family time. This was a very relaxed evening, especially after the kids opened gifts and began to busy themselves with their new toys. We stayed pretty late, hanging out, watching movies, eating way too much food (again), and playing with our new "toys." Luke and I got Rock Band Pro - going to have some fun with this one. Just as soon as we find some spare time. Ha!
During all this busy-busy-busy, Flint decided to start smiling and cooing up a storm. He hit his 2-month mark and saw Dr. Dickey for his check-up and vaccinations. He weighed in at 16lbs 1oz. - the typical size of an average 5-month old, with his head another two months ahead of the class, being the size of an average 7-month old's. We also received one of the best Christmas gifts of all. Well, sort of. His ear molds fell off on Christmas Day because his sensitive skin could no longer take the adhesive. While we weren't too thrilled by the skin infection present, we were very excited by the results. Both ears have improved their shape, though his left looks awesome. We may still have some ear issues down the road, but for now, we're happy to see our boy without goofy "muffs" on. And he looks surprisingly like his PapPap all of a sudden!
All in all, we had a wonderful holiday. We still have one more Christmas to celebrate - Q Christmas, this afternoon. Looking forward to that, and one more visit with some close friends from out of town. Then, it's safe to say we will be just as glad to be done with Christmas as we were to welcome it. That is, until we have to start the decor clean-up. Ugh!
Here are some clips from our December adventures!
See more photos: December and Watch Flint Grow!
Happy 2011!!!!!!
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