Merry Chwistmas!

Is there something in the Christmas Eve air that can make even a less-than-one year old bananas on the night before Christmas? Miles was a beast yesterday. A beast. And didn't sleep well last night either. I found myself saying some not-so-Christmasy things as I trudged down to the kitchen at 1 am to make a bottle because he wouldn't sleep and my boobs wouldn't wake up.

But coffee and Christmas morning heal all wounds (with a little help from large amounts of chocolate). We had fun today. Luckily Mr. I came home last night in time for dinner and was home until about a half hour ago. His company runs 24/7/365 so there are no guarantees about holidays... he usually works things out with coworkers and they were cool with giving him Christmas Eve and morning home.

I thought Miles would be into the wrapping paper ripping (since he loves tearing up magazines) and oblivious/overwhelmed about all the toys, but the opposite was true. I had to open all his presents (it's a dirty job, I know) and he was psyched about the new toys. I am very pleased that one of his favorites is the all natural wooden sorting blocks toy that we gave him, even with stiff competition from something large and electronic (which he also loves, of course).

Another great gift was a foam puzzle floor mat from Tadpoles. Most of these were recently recalled in Europe for containing formaldehyde, so of course I jumped on Google to check, and Tadpoles has specifically stated that their mats are non-toxic and free of formaldehyde. Yay! - we definitely can use this on the bare laminate floor of the family room downstairs.

We had fun this year being parents for the first Christmas ever and thinking about what kinds of traditions we would like to have with Miles for the holidays. For me as a kid, Christmas was very religious and the Santa/presents aspect was downplayed (not that we didn't get plenty of gifts)... making it kind of a somber holiday in my memory. I appreciate my parents' effort to make it meaningful, but it was a bit heavy. Mr. I had a very traditional American Christmas with the Santa stuff and the crazy piles of presents and he's all about that. We've agreed that reining in random gifts the rest of the year will make Christmas gifts more special. Probably the one element missing here is some kind of concept of giving to the less fortunate, something to think about in the future....

As usual during the holidays I always think about past Christmases. Last year I had a belly *out to here* and was anxiously waiting to meet my baby! And of course since my first pregnancy two Christmases ago I always remember the people out there who are dealing with baby loss during this time, trying to stay hopeful about the future... if you are still waiting, I hope next Christmas that particular wish will be coming true for you.