Happy New Year's Eve! I must say that I have been excited for this day to get here because it means the holidays are over. That makes me sound like a Grinch, but celebrating the holidays with a child are hectic and anxiety-producing. It has been so fun to see Tucker with his extended family and watching him see the new decorations and traditions with awe; however, packing him up and hauling him around to the different holiday celebrations as well as hosting holiday gatherings is exhausting for Mom and Dad! I am looking forward to vegging out on the couch with Jeremy tonight and a full day with both of my boys tomorrow (Daddy has the day off, yay!). Even with the chaos that the holidays bring, I'm sure that I'll be looking forward to next year's celebrations in a few weeks. It's amazing how quickly we forget the bad stress and remember the great memories!
This has been a big couple of weeks for Tucker. We celebrated Christmas with Daddy's side of the family on Christmas Eve and spent a couple of extra days with Uncle Chris, who was here from Los Angeles. We celebrated Christmas with just the three of us on Christmas Day. We let Tucker nap with us in bed, opened gifts, and did a lot of playing! He has been rolling all over the place, and is nearly always on his tummy when we get him from his crib after a nap or in the morning. It makes me so nervous knowing that he's sleeping on his tummy, though! On Saturday, we celebrated Christmas with my Dad's extended family, and Tucker sat up alone for an extended period of time for the first time. Today, he sat up for over 10 minutes all by himself. Once he figures something out, it is amazing how quickly he begins to master the skill! He has been getting very frustrated that he can't pick up two blocks while he is sitting, and it kills me to see him upset. I know that he will never improve his dexterity if I help him all the time, so I try to sit back and let him do it himself. He has also started to "talk" all the time!! It is absolutely adorable and I keep trying to get it on camera, but he freezes up whenever he sees the lens staring at him. I'm not sure if it's possible yet, but it seems like there is meaning behind his vocalizations. When he talks, he includes facial expressions and sometimes even laughs after he says something. I can't wait until we can understand what is going on in that amazing mind of his!!
The pictures are a bit backwards this week. Here are the photos from week 24 first...
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| This picture was taken by Uncle Christopher. Tucker had so much fun with his Uncle from California! |
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| He went to the Como Zoo when he was less than 3 weeks old, but this is from his first visit to the Minnesota Zoo. We were watching the Otter swim around. |
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| He was so excited for the zoo that he skipped his 2nd nap of the day, so he was pretty tired but happy most of the day. |
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| The grand kids take a "naughty" picture with Grandma every year. |
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| And here is our "nice" picture. If you look close, little Tucker is even smiling. |
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| Tucker with his Great Aunt Laura. |
My Grandma started giving my brother and I "junk boxes" for Christmas when we were pretty young and she has continued the tradition for my younger cousins. A "junk box" is filled with mostly gag gifts that she chooses for each grandchild based on something that has happened in the past year or something that reminds her of them. There is usually a story behind the gifts. She puts a lot of thought into them, and they always get a good laugh. A few years ago, we started to give her a junk box. Here are a few pictures of her opening her "junk box" from my Uncle Rick.
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| Tucker and Grandpa playing with Tucker's new toy from Tim and Laura. |
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| Great Grandma watching one of my cousins open their junk box. |
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| Tucker opening a gift. |
These last few are from Christmas night. I was supposed to work, but thankfully nobody needed emergency heart surgery and the EA (excused absence) fairies gave me the night off. I was expecting to be at work, but it was so wonderful to spend the time with Jeremy and Tucker. I'm still trying to figure out the lighting for this kind of picture, but it was past his bedtime and I was just happy to get a few smiles.
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| He is such an active boy!!! |
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| Daddy and Tucker sharing a special moment looking at the Christmas tree. |
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| All smiles from this sleepy boy! |
