Holiday recap

In retrospect, having a baby before Christmas is super and I highly recommend it as the ultimate experiment in letting go of all your expectations.

Christmas was very low-key here. Being the Type-A personality I am, all the critical wrapping for A was done months and months ago, so we went to bed pretty normally for people with a newborn on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning we actually slept in and stayed in our PJs all day.

Grandma and Grandpa came to town the next day, which was wonderful. They had snuggle time with L (Grandma is smitten), play time with A (so many many books read so many times), and cleaned our bathroom and kitchen (which is both mortifying and fabulous). Grandma and A baked cookies, which thrilled them both; Grandpa and A took a walk together, which was great. A had his new camera, the hit present from Grandma and Grandpa, and the entire walk is documented.

How's the sleep? Well, C fell asleep playing a video game in the middle of the day. Playing a video game. That's how the sleep is.

So far (note the caution), the only things that make L cry are wet diapers, diaper changes (so cold and rude) and city driving in the car (so stop-and-go). He's been super easy-going. He's been so easy-going that I've been worried that he's dehydrated and has brain damage, but he's got tons of wet and dirty diapers, super chubby cheeks, and periods of being awake and alert, so it's not that. He's just a mellow little guy.

I'm still healing. I hit frustration at the 4-week point, where I said, okay, I should be done with the healing because I'm sick of being out of commission. It turns out I'm not done with healing. I'm still sore, dependent on meds for activity, and easily tired. But C is still on paternity leave and we're taking things extremely easy, so I'm trying to just enjoy this time and focus on L.

Baby announcements went out, which was an accomplishment. Christmas cards were in various stages of being written when L arrived, so those may or may not make it into the mail. (I'm not re-opening already-written ones to add L's name and photo to the card. I'm not.) Babies first, parents next, everything else after that. You may be getting your cards in March.