Baby’s first Christmas

Reed really racked up this year! Although we chose not to buy him anything for Christmas, he got some super cool gifts from our families. After the extreme anticipation all week, we opened our presents Christmas morning and made the classic mess all over the living room. It was perfect! It was the kind of mess that you have to go through carefully to be sure you’re not throwing away any gifts!

Reed has been “grabbing” more and more, which is very exciting for us. So we would start the paper for him and then he would put his hand out, close his little fist and pull! So cute! He had no idea that what he was doing was revealing a present underneath. My brother and his girlfriend Cory sent him a “Scout” dog. We get to plug it into the computer and personalize him so that when you squeeze his paws he actually talks to Reed! He’s fascinated by the stuffed animal’s blinking blue light on his collar. They also send a little race car thinga-ma-jig. Mike’s parents sent a jumper- which was promptly assembled and set up in the pantry doorway, where we stood there and watched Reed stand there and watch us. We bounced it. He’s not getting it yet, but we’ll keep trying. His walker is a favorite though! It’s a DJ center, so he can pound on the little keyboard buttons and make music. I just look at him standing there, looking all busy and I crack up because he can be so independent! His Uncle David and Aunt Niki sent a few gifts as well. The best is this penguin that wobbles, as soon as Reed can sit up he’s going to be pushing on that thing and going crazy with it, I know.

Speaking of which, Mike’s pretty excited to work with Reed on sitting up while their home together today. Reed’s school is on Christmas break, so Mike’s taking Monday, Wednesday, Friday off for two weeks while I’m at work. It’s a little strange because now his time with him outweighs mine. It’s like a primary parent role reversal! Does that mean I get to be the fun one now?

Back to Christmas Day. After we finished opening presents we packed up and headed to the fire station. I’d done my research and found out which location our rescuers worked and what days and when I saw they worked Christmas day, we knew that’s when we had to visit them.

We baked and decorated some snowflake sugar cookies Christmas Eve as our thank you and they were very grateful. They remembered Reed of course and talked about how upset he was that day. They even honored him with his shiny golden Jr. Firefighter badge sticker before lining up in front of the fire truck for a photo-op. Sadly, I must note here that our good camera is on the fritz. Yes, just in time for the stinking holidays. So, we had to take the trusty old point and shoot. Although Mike has been known to snap a few good ones in his day, this one turned out slightly fuzzy for which I must apologize. They were so kind and absolutely genuinely accommodating. They made sure to tell us multiple times to bring him back as he gets older so he can, “climb on the fire truck.” I have a feeling Reed's friends are going to be mighty jealous.

Our afternoon was spent at the home of our good friends, the Harpers. Keith and Cassie have been and increasingly wonderful part of our lives and I thank God every day for connecting our family with theirs. Okay, maybe every few days or every week. Whenever I get around to it. Christmas dinner was tasty and wonderful, no matter what Cassie says. Don’t listen to her- it wasn’t too cold. That’s what happens with big dinners. Its only natural. (Here is a picture of Reed, strapped into the moby, helping me make devilled eggs.) Allissa, Jackson and Ryan were all there and we had a BLAST playing Ryan’s new game, “Things”. A couple of us, and I won’t say who, almost peed our pants we were laughing so hard.
It was wonderful and we stayed all afternoon and evening. It felt warm and cozy, just like it does with family.
We web cam’d with my mom for an hour the next day and showed her all the cool things Reed got for Christmas. She watched him play DJ as he mixed it up for her. And he even gave her a little laugh while playing peek-a-boo.
Thank you also to my dad and my grandma for the gifts for Reed. He discovers new abilities and is growing all the time so it’s really fun to have all kinds of toys and clothes for him. Sometimes I take him in my arms and squeeze him and beg him to stop growing. Except that I’m always looking forward to the next step, too! I’m so torn, I don’t know what I want!!