Joe and I truly count our families as huge blessings. It was so wonderful to see so much of them for the 2 weeks of Christmas. We played games, laughed, ate way too much and just hung out :) I always find it entertaining that both of our families have the tradition of waiting on the stairs Christmas morning. No one can go down until everyone is on the stairs and ready. Then when the parents have prepped the living room and say go we race down the stairs.
Benjamin did well travelling and hanging out for the most part. He did better the more I kept an eye on his sleep and eating schedule making sure to accomodate his needs before he got too frusterated. He's such a good sleeper whether it's home or either grandparents' place. I'm pretty blessed to have my first child sleep so well. (I'm sure it's mainly his personality but I did try to do "sleep training" from the very beginning. I read, or rather, skimmed, the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child which helped give me direction) We did midnight Mass this year but since Benjamin sleeps from about 7:30pm to 7am getting up in the middle of the night sorta threw him a little. I didn't do well with it myself though because I hoped he would just stay asleep the whole time but instead he woke up halfway through and got hungry/tired and we had to head home quickly after Mass. Being a new mom I feel like every experience in a learning experience.
I tried to let Benjamin open gifts when he could which was pretty entertaining. He's got a good grip, be it on hair, necklaces or gift wrap :)
