Baby's First Christmas

And we now have three ornaments to prove it! Maybe four...I think I lost count.

Chris and I have been rotating holidays between Ohio and Florida since we got engaged. This year it was Christmas in Florida, so we packed up and headed east for nine days. I won't try to bore you with the entire itinerary, but I will hit some highlights of the trip.

1. We got to meet Zachary Andrew Harshman, 2-month-old son of Chris's cousin, college roommate, and best man. Zack was born about 4 days after we left Florida in October. He's adorable and well-behaved, and will probably pass up Sam in size in the next 2-3 months. (Trying to get a picture of a baby is difficult. Trying to get a picture of 2 babies is nearly impossible.)

2. We got to visit with "My Becky," not to be confused with Becky Hunniford, who was my college roommate. She was in town visiting people as well, so it was a wonderful treat to eat lunch, shop, and talk with her for an afternoon.

3. We watched the sunset on the beach one evening. I think we picked the coldest day of our trip to do it.

4. Christmas! Sam looked studly on Christmas Eve, and got to show it off by in service with Mommy and Daddy after he decided he DID NOT like the nursery at Grandma's Church. He did, however, like all of the candles during Silent Night!

For all of the time he spends trying to get to, tear apart, and eat paper while at home, Sam was relatively uninterested in doing anything with the wrapping paper on Christmas morning. So we helped him open all of his many gifts and showed him how to play with them. After each demonstration he promptly put everything we handed to him into his mouth. Perhaps my favorite moment from the gift opening on Sam's First Christmas was when we unwrapped his new lovie - another elephant just like his favorite one at home. The thing was all tied up in ribbon but that didn't matter to him - he lunged and grabbed for that thing like he might never see one again, pulled it right up to his face, and began sucking on the elephants nose. Good shopping Mommy!Sam talked A LOT while we were gone, introducing words like Ub Dub, Blah Blah, and Da Da. Must be a Florida thing though, cause he's back to grunting and ngeee exclusively since we got home. Grandpa Hunniford was also able to get him started on the assisted walking while we were there. That he has kept up though (refer to previous post).

All in all, we had a wonderful first season with our Squirmy. He saw Christmas lights, ate a Christmas cookie, heard lots of carols, met Santa, dressed the part, etc. I can't wait for many more to share with my little man!