Week 3: What Do Christmas and a New Baby Have in Common?

So, what do Christmas and a new baby have in common?

1. Both are fun and exciting and make you appreciate all that you are blessed with in this life.

2. You look forward to both for about 9 months. And, when Christmas and/or the arrival of a new baby is about 2 months away, each and every day brings the question, "Is it time for Santa/our baby yet??"

3. Both yield presents, although the baby's are usually "wrapped" in a diaper and require a good deal of clean-up.

4. Both require singing the same songs over and over again. With a baby, the repetition is because the baby resumes crying every time you stop singing and all of a sudden you only know 2 lullabyes. So, it's "Rockabye Baby" for the 43rd time...

5. With both, it seems like you just can't get anything done. At Christmastime, it seems your shopping list grows two-fold for every one you mark OFF the list(both for presents and groceries for various dishes you committed to make for get-togethers). With a baby, you spend 80% of the day feeding, diapering, cuddling, etc. The other 20% is between 2 and 6 a.m. (Oh, don't correct my math. If I can't manage to get out of my pajamas by 1:45 in the afternoon, I'm certainly not taking the time to correctly figure out 80% of a 24 hour day).

6. Both add too much STUFF to clutter up your house. Obviously, the baby needs blankets, burp cloths, various swings and seats, etc. However, it just seems that these items never have a home and manage to make your house look junky. As much as you try to put things away, they get used so much that it's easier to accept the junkiness and get on with your life. At Christmas, you put up the decorations and get numerous ornaments, candy, and other trinkets from friends an co-workers....which all end up as a part of your 3-year-old's cadre of treasures that she hauls around in a lunchbox and deposits in various locations around the house as she's playing.

Okay, I could probably go on and on....so I'll just stop there. Smile.

We just finished Week 3 with baby Nolan. He's been a good baby and I've hauled him all over the city for various Christmas errands, my company Christmas party, a play date for Bailey and her friend Brody, Bailey's dance lesson and Mother's Day Out pick-ups, and a secret errand that I'll write about next week. He is sleeping well (knock on wood) and has been fussy only when he's hungry, cold, or wants to be held. I remember Bailey cried a lot in the car when she was an infant, but I think Nolan has the benefit of having her in the back seat with her. She really likes to monitor his activity and report to me what he's doing. It's also cute, because she usually has one hand placed on the side of his carseat, as if to comfort him during the ride.

I didn't take very many pictures this week, but I've included a few from Bailey's playdate with Brody, my friend Ilena's little boy. He's just about a year younger than Bailey but now both of them are old enough to experience the difficulty of sharing, so their time together is fun but also requires some parental mediation!!:-) At the end of the day, even after some crying and whining over toys, Bailey still loves Brody. And, look at him, who wouldn't??




And, just for fun, here's an outtake from my 3 weeks "photo session!"


Tune in next time for tales from Christmas (hopefully they'll be more GOOD than BAD!!).