Christmas Presents: Round One

So we opened presents on Sunday with my parents. This was Maddy's first experience with these strangely wrapped things. Maddy did quite well with grabbing the paper, though her goal was to put the paper in her mouth. (See picture 2.) Luke and I were able to spin the presents while she held the paper to unwrap them. Unfortunately, it would have taken us 5 hours to open all her gifts (Grandma went nuts!) so we had to let her watch most of the time. But, she was fascinated by it!

(Not quite sure why the first paragraph is underlined and linked and can't make it go away. Oh well.)

Flying

Friday night, Maddy and I and a good friend of mine flew to California. This was going to be one of the quickest trips ever to attend my friend's bridal shower. For the flight there, Maddy was a perfect little baby. She didn't hardly cry or make a peep. It was nice that there was another set of hands available for hold her.

We stayed at another friends house and it couldn't have gone better. Maddy went to sleep in a borrowed pack and play without even a peep. (I love having a baby that's a good sleeper!) About an hour later she woke up crying because she wasn't sure where she was at. After popping the paci back in, she was good to go for the rest of the night.

So Friday was good, Saturday however could have been better. Poor Maddy. Every time Maddy would fall asleep, she would make it about 20 or 30 minutes before she would have to wake up. She was passed around constantly at the shower, which was nice for mommy. By the time we got to the airport, Maddy had only slept about 40 minutes total, which is less than the length of one of her naps usually. She was extremely overtired. So on the plane, I was the parent with the screaming baby. She wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep, but she couldn't figure out how to get herself there. So she screamed. Finally over half way through our flight, she fell asleep. She fell so deeply asleep that she slept through putting everything back in the diaper bag, getting off the plane, getting to baggage claim while carrying her and pushing the stroller, grabbing the luggage, getting put into the carseat, and driving home. She slept for at least a half hour after we got home. She was one tired kid.

Saturday night Luke and I had to go to his work Christmas party. This was quite a fancy party so we got all dressed up. We look pretty! Enjoy a non-Maddy picture!

Maddy's 1st Bed Head!

It's hard to see the hair, but she was just so excited!

What a smile!

Hey, Santa!

So we ran to Walmart to look at fabric for new curtains today. As we're wandering around, there is an announcement that there will be free pictures with Santa for the next hour. Luke and I had wanted to take Maddy to get her picture taken with Santa and this was free, so even better! Luke wasn't with me so that was a bummer, but free can't be messed with.

So we wander over to the photo area and make sure it's really free. (FREE!) It was, so I handed over my baby. Normally, Maddy is not a big fan of men. (Sorry, guys!) But, she didn't even cry. As you can see from the picture though, he had very little face showing. She never even looked at him. I really think she thought that she was kicking back on a soft, squishy couch somewhere. She was so excited to be out of her car seat!

I then began the song and dance that is trying to get a baby to smile for the camera. I snapped my fingers to get her to follow them around to where the camera was. Click! No smile. Baby looks away. Clapping begins to try to get the baby to look back at the camera. But, I had put Maddy's pacifier in my mouth (just the edge!) to hold it so I couldn't do anything to make her smile. I pass off the pacifier. Then the raspberries begin. But, Maddy isn't looking at the camera again. More clapping. Oops, photographer lady misses the smile by a half second, so we repeat the process. Finally, after we've attracted an audience of 5 or 6 people, Maddy smiles and it's caught on camera. I'm really proud of my free Santa picture! (Sponsored by Walmart, Campbells, Goldfish, and Coca-Cola.)