Baby's first Christmas

The baby's first Christmas was a success! Christmas Eve we went to Auntie Linda's house. The baby was such a trooper. He had been up late the night before after an exciting time at Chuck E. Cheeses with his big cousin (he cried when we had to drop Eli off, he loves him!). I thought that there was no way he could make it for another late night but he was up partying until 10pm! Once it's past his bed time he gets really silly. He was laughing and freaking out at the slightest look from anyone! He was quite the hit of the party. Santa shows up at Auntie Linda's too so he got to see him again and get a present!
Christmas day we started by opening presents. He was actually able to open his first present a little bit on his own. I was impressed. After we opened presents at our house we went to my sister's house and opened presents there. Then it was off to Eric's dad's house in Hopedale. From there we went to Eric's Aunt Karen's house in Burriville. After that it was to my parent's house for dinner. Let me tell you, by the time this day was over I couldn't even see straight. Next year we are just going to have an open house in our tiny apartment for people to stop by. I will cook and do whatever it takes to avoid driving around all day on Christmas again. It is always good to see everyone but it is hard to relax and enjoy the holiday when whenever you get comfy somewhere you have to leave for the next destination. Plus the baby only napped in the car and although he hardly fussed for mommy and daddy's sake, he needs his naps!
Ok picture time:

This is Eric's cousin Shannon. She was very excited to meet the baby:


Uncle Alex just got his license so he was able to come to the party all by himself and hang out with his nephew!

Present from Santa (blocks)

There he is, Santa himself! If you notice in the back right corner there is a santa that is lit up. For my entire life my mom used to have a Santa just like that sit in the front window of our house. I cannot believe Eric's Auntie Linda has the same one! My mom finally got rid of hers but he lives on at Auntie Linda's!

I love how the baby is pulling Santa's beard

So this is Eric's cousin Courtney. For over a year she has been in the Peace Corps in Morocco. We didn't know she was going to be able to come home for Christmas so what a pleasant surprise it was to see her!

Crazy cousin Shannon who declared that she wants to be called "Auntie"

I feel so under-dressed!

Hi I'm a goober but I dress up nice!

9 months going on big boy :)

Mom enough with the pictures!

Standing tall

Christmas day at my sister's house:

Me and my sister look so tired. You can tell we've got little ones!

Playing with gramma and his new train

I wish I had gotten a Santa hat for Eric for Christmas but no worries because Auntie Karen had one that Dylan wore for his first Christmas and we borrowed from Ryan this year for picture purposes

Aww Ryan :)

Auntie and Uncle got him his own placemat with his name on it

and his own guitar

and a train

Dylan got a really cool tool bench and tool set for Christmas. He was fixing things all morning

A book from Auntie and Uncle

Ok now we are going a little backwards. These are from the morning at our house.

Checking out all of his new toys

A new ball

Some paints for art projects!

Haha Pokey you're so funny!

Yummy, thanks for the box!

Goober

"Now Daddy, go over this with me again... I'm supposed to rip this open?"

This is a video of him opening his first present

So I'm a little bummed because there was some good picture opportunities at my parents' house at the end of the day but I had left my camera in the car and I was just too tired to get it and I haven't gotten any pictures from my mom (hint hint). However, among other very nice presents including lots of comfy jammies, my parents got Eric a toy car to ride on that he can also walk behind and push. Once he figures it out I think this will be a favorite. He has walked while pushing it but I wasn't quick enough to take a video and then he stopped. Stay tuned...

And on another note, Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2010 brings great things to all. 2009 brought us the best present ever and we look forward to great things in 2010!

let it snow let it snow let it snow!

Nothing overly exciting has been going on in the Hamelin household as we gear up for the baby's first christmas. We got him all of his christmas outfits including christmas jammies :). On Christmas Eve we are going to Auntie Linda's house to spend time with Eric's family which is always a good time. They haven't had the party in a few years and a lot of people haven't seen Eric yet so it will be nice to see everyone. Christmas morning we are going to my sister's house for brunch and then we are going to my parent's house for dinner. I am sure at some point during that day we will go to Eric's Aunt Karen's house as well. It will be a busy couple of days but we need to get out of the apartment!

Over the weekend we have our first major snowstorm. I'm not sure how much snow we got but I'm guessing it's around a foot. The roads weren't too bad. It was a little tricky getting up the hill in my car in our complex and then getting through my parent's neighborhood is always fun. I bought new tires over the summer in hopes that my car would be better in the snow this winter but that is not the case. Maybe someday when I'm out of school I will get a four-wheel drive vehicle but for now I'm going to drive my little Civic for as long as I can. I only have one more year to pay it off so it'll save us a ton of money if we don't have that car payment every month.

Before we headed out on sunday we shoveled out my car and a lady in our building asked if she could borrow our shovel. She said she would put it outside our apartment when she was done. When we got home we found a bag of treats from her and a thank you for letting her borrow the shovel. We thought that was so nice! Eric finished shoveling out her car for her today just to help her out.

On Sunday it was my mom's 30th birthday (haha!). I was nervous about driving over there but since Eric claims to be an expert at driving in the snow he got us there skillfully.My parents had Chinese food and Papa Ginos (for those who don't like Chinese food) delivered to the house. It was a lot of food! I made a really bad looking cake that tasted good at least! It is always so much fun to get everyone together these days. Dylan is always running around doing silly things while Eric is laughing at him and wanting to join in with him and Ryan just smiles away at everyone. Eric wants so badly to do whatever Dylan is doing and then he just wants to love the heck out of Ryan. I'm really excited that they are going to grow up so close. They are going to have so much fun together growing up!

We bought a sled before the storm rolled in and Eric wanted to go sledding the day of the storm but we never actually made it out. So he dragged me outside kicking and screaming :). I do not like snow or cold weather but I better start to like it if I want to have fun with my Erics during the winter! So at 9am this morning we got the baby all dressed up which took about 15 minutes and then we took him outside for all of 15 minutes. He went in the sled and at first he wasn't too thrilled because he was so bundled up and uncomfortable. I went in the sled with him while Eric pulled us around and then I pulled the Erics around and then we laid the baby in the sled and I just pulled him around while Eric cleaned off his car. He seemed to enjoy being pulled around while lying down. He babbled the whole time. It was nice to get the fresh air at least! I'm sure there will be more sledding as the day and winter goes on!

The windowsill in our bedroom is perfect for Eric. He can stand on it and hold on and look at the window.
I think this picture should be a christmas card!:





licking the window!


Chillaxin' in the sled:

The baby was upset in this picture because he couldn't see, so I was trying to hold on to him and smile, it didn't work so well!

Daddy and Eric sledding

On a totally different note... for those of you who have kids around this time of year, my sister found this website and it is really cute. You get a message from Santa and they put the child's name and attributes in the video as well as a picture. It really seems real and I am all about kids believing in the magic of santa! Here's the website: http://portablenorthpole.tv

pictures pictures and more pictures

After dealing with the baby's screaming when he woke up for more days then I cared to, I finally called the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything medical. I went in with him on Friday and the nurse practitioner did a full check up including a urine sample and it is definitely not anything medical. So... it's behavioral. Yup, that's right, I'm already having to use my skills as a behavior therapist on my 9 month old son. It's going to be a looong 18 years if we're already starting now! Or maybe if I get a head start, he'll know we mean business! I can dream! So now when he wakes up screaming I just let him scream. I wait for him to either fall back asleep or if he really is awake I wait for him to stop crying before I go get him. I also read him two books before each nap so he gets the transition to naptime. This has helped tremendously for now at least. At night he's been going down just fine. He's still waking up screaming in the morning and when he's done napping so hopefully this will stop eventually! Another thing I've been working on is his whining. This has been a side effect of the lack of sleep that he's been getting. I can't be more than a foot away from him and he just whines and whines. So we don't make any eye contact with him when he's whining and then when he stops we give him lots of love. So far, so good. And if he's whining because I'm not close enough to him, I tell him to come get me. He may not be crawling yet but something's gotta motivate this kid to get moving!

Speaking of crawling, we have been working tirelessly to get him on his hands and knees. He sometimes will do it on his own but most of the time we have to do it for him. He rocks and rocks and rocks back and forth and then just face plants to the ground. Oh well! He has started taking some steps when he holds on to us or his walker. Who knows, maybe he'll just start walking instead!

Ok now for the pictures:

Part of the backlash of the lack of sleep is that he's exhausted. Last Tuesday he woke up screaming and was clearly still tired. I brought him into the recliner with me and had him sit next to me and I just rocked with him and played with his hair. The next thing I know he passed out. I had to get up to get him ready for a doctors appointment so I took this picture. I was even able to get his shoes on without him waking up.

We wrapped some presents and of course he went right for him when he found them

Just thought it was cute him sleeping in his sweatpants with his diaper hanging out. I have to at least put pants on him during the day because he knows how to get his diaper off.

Here are his 9 month old pictures. I cannot believe how much difference a haircut makes! He looks like a big boy!

Last thursday we went to my parents' house as usual. He loves his cousins! I have a cute picture of him and Dylan hugging but it won't upload. However, he loves loves loves Ryan. Especially since Ryan can't really escape him when he's attacking him. He has to touch him as often as possible.

Eric was kissing (or licking!) Ryan's face but nobody got into the room with a camera quick enough

Eric rolled from the living room to the kitchen and then scooted himself right under Auntie Karen's legs

Dylan went sledding that day. Unfortunately we got there later on in the day and missed the sledding

Just a nice picture

"Baking" in the kitchen

Look at that cute little present under the tree

Ok so I finally uploaded pictures from my aunt and uncle's Christmas party:

The only female great grand child with her daddy