Christmas In NJ...

For Alexander's first Christmas, we were able to go down to NJ to spend some time with Dan's family. We headed down Saturday (12/22), left around 9:30am and hit NO traffic. It was wonderful. It was also wonderful because Alexander was able to nap for most of the car ride (2 1/2 hrs). The car nap was ideal because then it allowed him to hang out the rest of the day without fussiness.

We went straight to Dan's parents house where everyone was already there, Matt, Laura & Michael along with Catherine & DJ. Alexander & Michael haven't seen each other since Michael's christening back in April. Michael was excited to get a look at Alexander, however Alexander wasn't that happy about it. At one point, Alexander played in his exersaucer and started to jump like crazy. Dan's entire family found his jumping to be absolutely hysterical! Dan & I couldn't understand why it was funny, but that's probably because we see it all the time. Alexander bonded quite well with Uncle DJ as well. They were buddies the entire weekend. After dinner, Dan's aunt & cousins came over for a visit.

Since we were staying at a hotel & it was getting to be Alexander's bedtime, we headed over to the hotel. Alexander & I stayed while I got Alexander to sleep, and Dan went back to hang out with his family for a bit. Alexander slept fairly well and I think staying in the hotel made it alot more comfortable for everyone. Alexander spent 1/2 of the night in his pack & play, then after not being able to settle him down, I brought him into the bed with me. This was not a problem at all due to the fact that it was a king-size bed. Alexander was able to sleep in the middle. There was plenty of room, Dan couldn't even tell we were there. Sunday morning, Alexander woke up @ 5am, and he wouldn't go back down! Guess that means we were up for the day! We got up and got ready for another jam-packed day. We were headed down the shore to visit Dan's godmother, Joan. Joan & Aunt Tess were very excited for us to visit. They haven't met Alexander yet, it was nice to be able to see them. We had brunch and then we opened presents. Alexander got an outfit, a book & bear as well as an alphabet quilt. Again, he's a very lucky little boy. After visiting, we headed back up for Sunday afternoon dinner at his parent's house. Another good thing about traveling to see his godmother, Alexander slept in the car on both the way down & back up. He got in a good 2 1/2 hr nap total.

PS - Carol, I have already started to print pictures for Joan, so you don't have to do it separately. Once back at his parent's house, Alexander played with Michael & Uncle DJ. He also played in his exersaucer again. Dan's aunt, uncle & cousin came over for dinner. This was nice because they were all able to see Alexander & Michael. Alexander got a bit fussy during dinner, but refused to go down for a nap. He played with DJ and DJ was able to entertain him so I could grab a quick meal.

Because it was a busy day, I wanted to make sure that Alexander got to bed at his usual time rather than 9pm like the previous night. Dan brought us back to the hotel and Alexander was asleep in his pack & play by 7:30pm! It also allowed me to get some sleep - thankfully! Alexander spent the majority of the night in his pack & play but then decided to start his day at 5am again. He just doesn't seem to care that he can sleep late.

Monday was Christmas Eve. We got up & got ready to go back to his parents house. We hung out at his parents house for a bit before making the drive back home. Dan's parents gave Alexander the Radio Flyer Rocking Horse and he loved it! Some other presents were cool outfits & a tracksuit. He got a cool toy cookie jar from Uncle Matt & Aunt Laura and a puzzle from Aunt Catherine & Uncle DJ. When Dan was packing the car, he had to take the horse out of the box in order to fit in into our car.

After hanging out and saying out goodbyes, we hit the road. Again, Alexander slept the majority of the ride home (about 2 1/2 hours) and we had one of our fastest ride home EVER. We didn't hit one drop of traffic, even in the worst driving state of CT. (I'm not fond of CT drivers and since I lived there for a brief time, I feel justified in saying that)

Once we got home, we just relaxed and unwinded from a busy, yet nice weekend with Dan's family. Here's a link to the Christmas Eve post complete with pictures: http://alexanderchristopher.blogspot.com/2007/12/first-christmas-eve.html