End of December already! Everything basically after Thanksgiving has just blown by. We spent the holiday shuttling ourselves between the various components of my side of the family. The 24th, (which I luckily had off) I wrapped gifts, went to the grocery store for last minute items (you really can't buy produce a week early), and we headed over to My Mom & Dad's for dinner. Actually we headed there early in the afternoon, so I could do some cooking and help my Mom prepare, we were also having a cousin and her family join us. Various people held Lachlan throughout the afternoon so I could stay in the kitchen, which was a little unfortunate. I really hoped everything would be basically done, so we could watch the roast and tenderloin bake and take it easy. But no luck.
So my Dad held Lachlan through dinner, not because we asked him to, but because he wanted to. And maybe he snacked all afternoon. And Lachlan was a little fussy, and so I gave Dad a little bowl of green bean casserole and yams, and said congratulations, you get to feed Lachlan his first Christmas dinner. Now, after all of the insistence about Lachlan needing "real food", you would think Dad would be ecstatic. Instead, he was a little nervous. "Oh, I don't know, I don't want him to choke." But they did fine, and Dad said Lockie loved the yams. Who wouldn't.
The 25th started the day unpacking and unwrapping our interfamily gifts. I wrapped each of Lachlan's gifts, hoping he would tear through the paper. But I learned (the previous night) he only ripped a little bit of paper, and then proceeded to eat it. That is probably his favorite treat. Paper. Or cardboard. So that morning, I opened all of his gifts (surprise!) and showed him his loot. Only mildly interested. A "cell" phone from my Mom and Dad (she wasn't there when I told Melissa the digital read-out wasn't good for his eyes or brain), clothes from Rey, another, non-digital phone from Melissa (thank you for listening, sister), a big bear that makes noises when you touch him...And we gave Lachlan wooden blocks and balls, a plastic baseball bat (that is twice his size), a soccer ball (even though he cannot walk), whiffle balls, a wooden xylophone (whose stick he likes to put in his mouth). So we pretty much have everything we need to keep him occupied, not that we didn't already.
We headed to my Aunt's house and saw cousins, including Yesenia who lives here in Midland but I never see, her daughter, my god daughter Alexia, Yesenia's brother Cesar, my cousin Alma, who I see even less, and Alma's 3 kids. It was her first time to see Lachlan, and she was very sweet in saying he was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. She follows the blog, which is also very sweet, a little reminder that there are those who really want to know what Lockie is up to. So a strange thing started to occur. Lachlan, typically easy going, did not let anyone he didn't know hold him. Not anyone except me, Jason, Mom, Dad, Rey, Melissa. No one could hold him very long, if at all. He visibly and obviously turned his body away from them. I guess it is his age? I know there were some hurt feelings.
Same thing when we visited my Dad's family later that day. And Lachlan was pretty fussy too. He missed almost all of his naps, maybe that is why? (Aunt Corina gave us a baby food processor and baby food book, very thoughtful, and appropriate as always, and his new 2nd cousin Iris gave him some clothes, too, yea!) The 26th we visited my great Aunt Mary's where Lachlan continuted to be glued to us, and not let a single soul hold him. It was their family's first Christmas (following a first Thanksgiving) without my uncle SL, so it was emotional for my Mom being there, and strange for me to think I was very pregnant at his funeral last February. Aunt Mary, a retired nurse anaesthesist, gave us a sterilizing wand, about the size of a bagette, which was also very sweet and convenient. )The number of times I have felt uncomfortable putting his changing pad on the one changing table in the one bathroom that has room for a changing table...)
And so now we are home, unpacking still, thawing out from cold and West Texas "snow." Lachlan has started "screaming" when he wants something now. What are we doing that is creating this? He also still nurses 5-6x a night. And lays directly on top of me at an angle so he can nurse and sleep at his comfort and convenience. He was down to 2 feedings at 6 weeks! This working I think changes how the parenting this goes and what choices we make for him. The best thing would be for neither of us to work. But then there is the issue of food and shelter.
In the end, we were really happy with how the Christmas (and Thanksgiving) holidays have gone. Lachlan is so happy and healthy, and we feel so lucky to have him. Our friends Fredrik and Tina sent us a little power point of their new boy, born in late November, Kasper, also beautiful. The last slide shows the three of them together with a fitting sentiment that we also feel, about our son, Lachlan: "best Christmas gift ever!"
