Koen's First Christmas

It really is the most wonderful time of the year! Amidst reems of silver paper, a million new buzzing toys (Bodhi got Hex Bugs from Santa), strands of colourful lights, carols and laughs, Koen was a perfect little Christmas baby! He sat through sing-a-longs, games of Minute to Win It, present opening and cousin playing and smiled the whole way through it all. This Christmas was a very special one for all of us. Brandon and Vanessa were here from Winnipeg with Lucy and Alice and we all were able to be together at Grandma's house in Verona. We woke up Christmas morning to a living room full of toys from Santa - Koen got a rumbling dump truck and stocking full of surprises. He ripped open all of his presents with gusto and proceeded to eat the paper. Gift highlights included: a new book (Z is for Zoo), cars from Bodhi, stackable rings, and a set of bongo drums. What a haul! We spent a great day playing in the snow, cuddling with cousins and Grandma, having endless meals, and then to top it all off - a rousing game of Christopher Christmas Minute-to-Win-It ("contestants" are given a task to complete in under 60 seconds). Koen was on timer duty with Daddy and laughed and smiled the whole way through while Bodhi stacked pyramid cups, Clara transferred candy canes from one string to another, Grandma caught a cookie in her mouth without using her hands and Uncle Brett shimmied 6 christmas ornaments out of a kleenex box attached to his waist - a regular sort of Christmas evening! He crashed at the end of the day and slept like a champ. Merry Christmas litle Koey-Badoochee! We love you so much!!!

Sleep Has Changed My Life!

This afternoon Grandma came over so that I could head out for a couple of hours of Christmas shopping. I quickly kissed the boys goodbye and jumped in the car before realizing how EASY THAT WAS!!!! No detailed lists of sleep aids, no anxiety over whether he would go down for a nap or not, no worry about how my Mom would put Koen down for a nap without having to leave Bodhi downstairs alone for hours on end. Koen's sleeping has definitely changed my life - as in, it's given me the semblance of one. I have all this TIME all of a sudden and I don't dread the very moments when I have to attempt nap or bedtime. I am able to enjoy rocking with Koen, reading him stories, singing him songs, and then quietly kissing him goodnight as he drifts off to sleep. Aaaaaaah. I am overjoyed that the sleep training has worked so beautifully up to this point. He's falling asleep easily and waking up happy. Now if we could only convince his big brother to sleep past 4am!