Eden's first Christmas! It was such a fun holiday this year. This is the first year Addison really "got it" add to that to it being Eden's first Christmas - it was a very special year!
Of course Eden was ridiculously spoiled with gifts. Santa brought her a play farm door and a mini-vanity set. She checked out all of her new toys and seemed to like everything. Although, Christmas night she was playing with an empty box for awhile.New Year's Eve
We went to a New Year's Eve "Countdown to Noon" party at the park district for the 2nd year in a row. It was a lot of fun, and although it was mainly for Addison, Eden had some fun too. We were able to find some good floor space for her to hang out and she liked watching all the fun around her. At noon, there is a balloon drop so she was all about that! At home, she loves playing with the balloons. I'm surprised she hasn't popped one yet!
New Year's Eve night - we hung out at Grandma G's until shortly after bedtime. Eden was in her element - being doted on with everyone taking turns holding her. I don't think she sat anywhere but on a lap the entire night!
Cinderella
Over the holidays, family was in town and a huge group of us went to the Marriott Lincolnshire to see Rodgers & Hammerstein "Cinderella". When we sat down, we passed Eden down so everyone could get in a quick squeeze with her. Well, Aunt Mindy was holding her and the show started...several seats away from us. We kept looking down to check on Eden - expecting her to start crying or get antsy, especially when the show started and it got dark. But nope! She just sat perfectly still on Aunt Mindy's lap, watching the entire show. She was enthralled, watching the lights, dancing to the music - it was amazing! So we have a little theater fan (at least for now).
Kitty and BabyColby Jack was always good with Addison, so it was no surprise he took an interest in Eden right away. When she was an infant, anytime I was nursing her, Colby Jack would come snuggle up on my lap next to Eden - often times putting his paws on her belly. Well, now that Eden is stationery on the floor, Colby Jack loves it! As soon as we set Eden up with all her toys on the floor, Colby Jack is right there! He flops right down in the middle of the toys, right up next to Eden. Eden likes it too, she always pets him or pulls on his hair. She's pretty gentle with him, but sometimes can give his fur a good tug. Colby Jack is very good with her though, and sits perfectly still whenever she's pulling on him - until we break her tight little grip free!
Sleep
Somehow our little Eden is still not sleeping through the night most of the time. We have a very strict bedtime routine at 8pm every night, but she often wakes up at either 11am or 2am. We're lucky if she sleeps until 4am and it's a miracle if she "sleeps through the night" to around 7am.
It was around 10 months with Addison that I stopped nursing because my supply wasn't enough and she always needed a bottle in addition to me at bedtime. So we wondered if maybe adding a bottle to Eden's nighttime feeding would help fill her up and sleep through. It did work a couple times, but most nights she still woke up to nurse/cuddle.So, we increased the bottle size from 4oz to 6oz. Well, that didn't work because then she would still wake up at like 10pm or the middle of the night and throw up!
We're sticking with the bottle and then nursing to top her off and soothe, but the trick is for when she does wake up in the middle of the night is to not bring her back to our bed. But it is THE HARDEST thing to do! Especially in these cold winter months, it's bad enough getting of out of bed and going to her room, but I can't bring myself to sit in her room and nurse for 10min and put her back down. Just so much easier to go back to my bed and get under the covers and nurse her there. But when we do that, Addison comes in at her wake-up time of 6:30am and ends up waking Eden up. When we are able to put Eden back in her bed? She sleeps til 8am.
So, we don't have a solution to get her to sleep through the night EVERY night yet, but we do have a solution on how to get her back to sleep through the rest of the night.
Eden on a Plane
At the end of December, I received a very sad phone call that my dad's childhood best friend, Jim Yonts, had passed away suddenly. Jim (and his family) had become our family through the years, I grew up with all of them. So when this news hit, I knew I wanted to try and make every effort to make it to the funeral in Baltimore.
I felt bad about going on yet another trip away from my family, but we couldn't afford for us all to go. So, I decided to bring Eden with me! Since she could sit on my lap, it wouldn't cost any extra and this way I didn't have to travel with my breast pump and expressed milk through security : / Plus, Auntie Michelle & Uncle Vinay (and all the Yonts') would be able to meet Eden too!
So on the plane we went. I was very nervous - read up a lot and asked others for advice. But it all went better than I could have imagined. Auntie Michelle was able to borrow baby equipment from the Yonts family so I didn't have to travel with more than my stroller, diapers, toys and clothes for her. It was great!
On the flight out there, we sat next to an older man who was a grandpa. So he was more than happy to entertain Eden when she would be studying him. But by the time the flight took off, I nursed her for awhile and she easily fell asleep.
The entire visit and even during the funeral service, she was great. As always with Eden, as long as people are holding her, she is happy. Eden was a good distraction too, in the sadness of a funeral, she was able to put smiles on peoples faces which I think is the best part of the whole trip.
We were only out there for two days, but I was so proud of myself AND Eden for how well the travel was.
Maybe some fun family trips will be in our future :)
