The first gift of the night, from Gran and Gramps P. He was happy just to play with the wrapping paper, so we had to give him a hand opening it.
Christmas was pretty fun yesterday. By far the best part was having Mike home, though no-one enjoyed it more than John. He was so incredibly excited about Mike being around that he barely slept. His whole schedule was completely out of whack - all he wanted to do was stay up and look at Dad. When he was awake, he was constantly looking for Mike. Even while he was eating, he kept coming off to look and make sure he was still there. I finally turned my body so he could see Mike and eat at the same time, which made him very happy. He still wouldn't stay latched on - he kept stopping to smile - but at least he wasn't craning his neck, looking for Mike every five seconds.
Mike almost didn't get the day off. It's crazy busy at work right now (I think they're trying to ram through all their work before the strike.) He got a page telling him his whole team was to come in. He called dispatch and asked if he could be exempted, with it being Orthodox Christmas, and the new baby and all. They said to call his manager, and they'd look into it as well. He got another page minutes later telling him that he was to work, quoting a section in the Collective Agreement, which states employees can be forced to work whatever day the company chooses. But his manager gave him a call back and told him not to worry about it, and keep the day off. So, he got the day off. He feels bad about it, because they do seem pretty desparate for guys, but he was glad to have it.
He's so wiped! He's been working so hard lately. They've brought extended shifts back, and he's been working them every day for a week, with no slow-down in sight. I think he's secretly hoping for a strike, so he can have a break.
As a result, I took the brunt of the work for Christmas. It showed in dinner, traditionally a two-person job. I was going to make sweet potatoes, so we could give John something to eat that we were having, but they're still uncooked in the fridge. It didn't matter in the end - he slept right through dinner anyway. It was my first year stuffing the turkey, and I think I did something wrong. It exploded. Not nearly as bad as the year we had to pick vertabrae out of the stuffing - we didn't vben have to cut it that year - it was already in pieces. This year it split open down the middle, and all its limbs fell off. It was pretty grissly. We tried a new kind of stuffing which wasn't very good. It was cranberry-apple. I thought cranberries would work, but they were actually pretty gross. We had tart stuffing, if you can imagine that. We normally make sausage stuffing, but it's so rich and heavy, I felt like a change. I think next time, we'll just go back. At least it isn't sour.
We did the gift thing with John at night. We were planning to do it in the afternoon, but he was so out-of-whack, nap-wise, it was impossible to plan around him. We were planning to do it around noon - the turkey going in was supposed to coincide perfectly with waking up from the morning nap. It wasn't meant to be. We finally got to it after dinner, but he wanted to go to bed. He was glazing over as we went, so you'll probably notice in the photos he isn't his usual perky self, but he did like looking at all the toys. He was a little more receptive to playing with things this morning, but wasn't awake long enough for more photos.
All in all, it was a fun day. Mike made all these big plans for stuff we could do, but nothing got done - he was just too beat, so he talked to me from the couch while I made dinner, and flaked in bed while I fed or changed John. He was vertical long enough to eat, then thanked me for taking care of everything and collapsed in bed.
Thank-you to everyone for our gifts! We have enough housecoats now that we don't ever have to share. Though, he likes the one that his parents got me, so I think it's in a bit of danger. He doesn't care that it's girly - he's been wearing my pink one for months now.
Auntie Glen Ellen and Uncle Dave sent nuts and chocolates along with all of John's cool stuff. I'll have to resist eating too many chocolates if I ever want John to sleep again. I think they were the culprit in the recent wave of crabby, sleepless nights - I did notice that once the last chocolates were gone, he went back to normal. Coincidence? Perhaps. But still not worth the risk of a repeat.
The electric blanket is great, Mom and Dad - we don't have one right now, so we're happy to have it. We had it on last night, and it was very cozy. The cats love it too. I guess you must have noticed our sad door matt, and my even sadder, sad, sad slippers the last time you were here. The new ones fit perfectly. My old ones died long, long ago. I kept thinking maybe if I just washed them, they'd look better, but there's just not enough holding them together anymore to survive a trip through the washer, so new ones are great. The CD is perfect - I plan to play it on the looong, drive home, if Mike ever has the time for us to go before I'm back at work. If he's going to make us suffer through a long drive, he can suffer right along with us with endless nursery rhymes.
My grandmas sent us money, which is always a huge help. Mike's grandma sent us some small appliances, which are great - especially the blender, for making John's baby food. We have one now, but it's plastic so it's getting stained and gross. This glass one will be much better. Mike loves his thermos mug and wooley new work socks and long underwear, and my new mitts are great. I don't have a pair right now - I keep stealing Mike's - so they'll be put to good use.
Anyway, it was nice to have a day as a family, exploded turkey and all. There's more pictures of John and many of his new things below!!!
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