Alexander's First Thanksgiving

Alexander's first Thanksgiving is successfully under our belts.

I picked him up from school early on Wednesday to help minimize the amount of traffic we would have to face, it ended up being a good idea as the traffic got worse as the afternoon went on. At home we played for a bit, had our afternoon bottle and then Daddy came home. It was a typical Wednesday evening from that point on.

Thursday morning Alexander woke up @ 5a - however he had a few moments during the night where he woke up crying & upset. We left to go to Grammie & Grampie's house early than expected because we wanted to not have to worry about more traffic. He didn't nap in the car but that was fine because he took a great nap before we left. At Grammie & Grampie's, he played with his train and bounced around in his exersaucer. There was certainly plenty of people to entertain him. He started to get a bit fussy around 2:30pm so I fed him his bottle and put him down for a nap. He originally fought the nap even though he was tired, but I was able to get him down in the pack & play for a nap. He slept long enough for us to eat our yummy Thanksgiving dinner. He woke up while we were getting the kitchen cleaned & desserts ready. He banged on a bowl with a wooden spoon which entertained him for quite sometime.
After desserts, he played a bit more with Sharon & Grammie before it was time for pj's. He went down pretty quickly for bed and slept in the pack & play. I was quite happy at how well he did all day. He was chatty, drank his bottles, ate some solids, took some naps and was genuinely in a great mood all day. The only time he fussed was when he was fighting nap time - which is common.
Thursday night he slept in the pack & play for a good 4 hours before he started crying in his sleep. I tried to calm him down but he only got more upset. I brought him into bed with me and he immediately fell asleep. However, he woke up @ 12am and wouldn't calm down unless I brought him into the kitchen. When I sat him on the floor, he was quite content. So I made a small bottle and it helped relax him. He finally fell asleep around 2am as we were lying on the living room couch. I didn't sleep much but he did so that's all that matters.

Friday morning he woke up about 5:30am and was up for the day. I was trying to keep him entertained so he wouldn't wake everyone else up but I think Grammie & Grampie were excited about their sleep-over guest because they came out @ 6am. I went back in and took a little nap while Grammie & Grampie watched Alexander. Once Daddy was up, he went up to help feed Alexander. We were going over my aunt's house that afternoon so we were hoping Alexander would nap. I put him down around 10:30am and then My Mom & I ran out to the grocery store. Unfortunately he only slept for 30 minutes but that's better than nothing. Mom & I took Alexander because we were going to make a stop (we were going to visit Santa) while Dan & Grampie went together. Alexander fell asleep so we decided to just head straight to my aunt's house - there's always next time.
Alexander was amazing at my Aunt's house. He didn't make a peep, fuss or cry once. He wouldn't eat but I expect that's due to the excitement. I'm quite happy that my grandparents were able to see Alexander again. We still can't get over how well he did Friday afternoon. No matter who held him he didn't cry, however when he saw Dan or I he would put his hands out as if to say "I don't know if I know this person so please take me back". It was a really nice afternoon hanging out with family. He got to play around with Arlene, Sue & Moira, his faithful blog readers! He even snuggled with Arlene a bit.
We knew we had a long ride back home so we got him in his pj's and hit the road. Daddy fed him a bottle in the car and after he finished it, he fell asleep and slept the entire ride home. We were even able to transition him from his carseat to his crib without an issue.
He woke up during the night again, but at least he fell back to sleep once I brought him to bed.

There was another family gathering on Saturday for my Dad's family...my cousin Amy is up from Florida. But that one was at 7p Saturday night and it's not as if they live next door. We opted to stay home which I think was for the best because Daddy & I certainly didn't have the energy to get ready, pack the car, and drive. Guess we'll have to stock up on nap time for Christmas.

Overall, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving where we got to see some family, eat some great food, and chill out. Alexander was fantastic & I can't wait until Christmas...