The Eastern Kids' Christmas

Every year, around the 27th of December, we venture down to my parents' place on Emerald Isle, North Carolina and have a little fun in the sun. My brother Jim and his family also come to the Island and we have a Christmas with our parents. Because the two of us are the pair of siblings on the East Coast, my dad affectionately refers to us as the "Eastern Kids". So, on Saturday morning, we packed up the car and started the 6 hour drive down, and sure enough, 6 hours, on the dot, we drove off the bridge and onto the island.

The last time Jim, Lindsay, and his three sons Max, Jack, and Ben, saw Jamey, he was but a little boy of about 5 weeks. The boys could do nothing but stare at him. Imagine their delight to find that their little cousin could now interact with them and beyond that, brought some really amusing toys. Needless to say, they love it, and especially Ben takes joy in making funny faces to make Jamey laugh, or just make him stare at him enthralled.

With the temperature rising to a surprising 70 degrees, we all headed out for a Hardee's lunch on the deck at the clubhouse, and a touch football game for the Big Boys on the beach. Now that Jamey is more aware of his surroundings, I let him wriggle his toes in the sand, which he seemed to enjoy very much. Mesmerized by the sound of the waves, he was asleep in my arms after about half an hour.

After weeks of spending the day with Christopher and now, a few days of watching his cousins run around and talk, I think that Jamey has really begun to find his voice. Now, if only we knew what he was saying. But I suppose that will come soon enough!

Jamey's First Christmas

Well, it happened. Jamey celebrated his first Christmas. Or at least the first part of his first Christmas. With Jamey here, we have begun to set out a kind of Christmas schedule to follow for years to come, so that we get to spend some time with everyone and still get Mommy-Daddy-Baby time as well. On Christmas Eve, we got to hang out at the West Virginia house, eat a great meal, and open some gifts. On Christmas day, Jamey sat in my lap as I opened presents for both of us. Every now and again, he would reach up and grab at the paper in an effort to help, but for the most part, I distracted him with whichever gadget that made light and sound I had nearby. He loved them all! He isn't picky!

For his big present, Jamey got a Get Up and Go Jungle Play thing from Fischer Price. It has a hippo, monkey and elephant on it, and whenever you move something, it sings. Unfortunately it only has two songs, which I am pretty sure I already know. Ah well. All in all, I think that Jamey really enjoyed his first holiday.

Today, though, he has been a bit more cranky. For one thing, Glenn reached into his mouth today and he felt something we have been waiting for-- the sharp corner of a tooth popping through. And so, I held my breath in anticipation of the crankiness that would ensue. Sure enough, Jamey has been more cranky today. However, the tooth isn't the only bothersome thing. Jamey has also developed some sort of cough. It sounds a little like a wet cough and seems to be a bit of chest congestion. My question to all you mommies out there is-- Is this a coincidence or is this tied to getting a tooth? I know that a lot a lot of other things happen when a baby gets a tooth-- fever, crankiness, other things.... But what about congestion? Baby Center tells me that the jury is still out on this one, but often, the best advice comes from the experience of other moms.

Traditions... and a 5 month Update

With my return to work and the arrival of the holiday season, my time has been pulled very thin lately. So thin, that I have been unable to update the blog, as you may have noticed. Here, I have gone almost an entire month with no word, and for that, I say, sorry. But as the title says, Jamey is now 5 months old. At this point, he doesn't have monthly doctor's visits, so we had to use our own methods to measure his weight. (Mommy weighs herself and then weighs herself while holding Jamey.) Using this very scientific method, we have determined that Jamey is now 18 pounds 3 ounces. In addition, he is getting ever closer to sitting up on his own, and likes to babble. He is also very much in love with his hands and feet.

But bigger for Jamey than staring at his hands and feet, is the beginning of a new holiday season. As was mentioned in Abby's blog about her daughter, Jamey really has no idea why we are doing what we are doing. Why the tree with the many colored lights? Why the bushy green stuff all over? Why are all the boxes covered in paper?

Really, it doesn't matter to him. All things listed prove very fun for the senses, whether that means staring, pulling, or trying to taste. We have been training him, too, to open presents. It isn't hard. All we have to do is wave a stray bit of wrapping paper in front of him and out pops the hand to grab on. As his arm flails around, he tears the paper here and there.

Along the lines of presents, I have brought to him a tradition that was one of my favorites each year. It is called the 25 Days of Christmas. Growing up, every day, my mom would hide a little gift somewhere in the house, and each of us in the house would read that days clue to tell us where to find the goodies. Sometimes toothpaste, sometimes a toy. Little things. The fun wasn't in the present. The fun was in the finding. As we have 11 grandchildren in the family, my mom has taken to doing weekly gifts. But wanting Jamey to experience the full tradition, I took it on myself. Well, for this year, Glenn helps him a lot.

Now that we have Jamey, I have found that tradition means so much more. One of my favorite things about our tree at home was the homemade ornaments, such as the "colored" in wooden ones from my brothers. At a $5 store (which is conceptually an "upscale" Dollar Store), I found a Crayola ornament kit, which contained ceramic ornaments to be colored with Crayola markers. We decided that Jamey will color in one ornament each year over the next 12 years as a tradition. This year, of course, I had to show him how it is done, but he helped me choose which colors to use... or I think that is what he was doing while he held those markers for me. :)