Owen's First Christmas

Owen and I traveled to DC to celebrate Christmas with my family this year. Jeremy had to work so we left him with lots of kisses and a huge pan of enchiladas. Owen was perfect on the 4.5 hour car ride and I even managed to pee at the rest stops with him in the Ergo.

Annual invitation poem written by my cousin Kristen:

Raider and Owen, this year's for you,
Your first holiday season, all shiny and new.
We hope that you'll join us, with smiles so bright,
your family and friends abrim with delight.
We'll eat, drink and be merry all day,
together with loved ones, it's the only way!

Be prepared for picture overload. I was so excited to have Owen surrounded by family, especially since he's gotten a little clingy over the past couple weeks. He isn't used to so many people, especially giving him attention. He was shy and sweet (and didn't talk at all while we were there) but I know he had a great time. He was a PRO at opening gifts (thanks to his Chanukah practice) and he had a blast with his cousin Raider who is less than 2 months older. Raider has been walking for quite some time while Owen is still content with his army crawl. I was actually thankful he wasn't more mobile. These two are going to be trouble once Owen can keep up!

As soon as we arrived Owen and Raider started exploring. Raider showed O the ropes.  

Raider: "This is how you bang on the keyboard they gave us to play with!"
Owen: "Wow. My Mama never lets me play with stuff like this."

 Raider: "And this is how you get into this cabinet where the keep the toys for the other kids...."

Owen opening his stocking on Christmas morning

Owen's first Christmas gift "Is it okay to open this Mama?"

Paper is always more interesting than gifts. But he was excited he got the ball popper on his holiday wish list!

Checking out another one of his presents, just to make sure it works.

 Lots of hugs for his cousin!

Raider wore this necklace all morning with no issues. Owen had it on for thirty seconds and managed to bite off one of the lights. NOT BABY OWEN FRIENDLY.

Playing with Raider's Lil Zoomers race track. His favorite part was taking off his sock and watching it spin around. We might have to get him one of his own for his birthday. He really liked it. 

"Can I eat this?"

Gi-Gi hit the jackpot in the family White Elephant exchange. A few years ago she ended up with a tickle-me-elmo and was pretty disappointed. This year she walked away with 2.5 POUNDS of chocolate. She was one happy lady! (Owen's great grandmother)

Owen waiting to eat dinner. He did a great job eating, even with all of the distractions. He had cranberry sauce, squash (brought especially for him by his Mama) and smoked mashed potatoes. Smoked mashed potatoes are AH-MAZING! Oh and then Owen entertained us all by straining out a Christmas pooh at the dinner table. Guess he needed to make room for fruit soup dessert!

 The next morning the boys played and watched Sprout TV in their pj's. Owen has only watched cartoons one other time so he was mesmerized by the show. He didn't even notice his cousin jumping on for a piggy back ride!

Raider: "And THIS is your belly button."

We both had a wonderful trip. Owen did a pretty good job napping while we were there and slept most of the way home. We left a day early to avoid the snow and get back to Daddy who got an early start to his vacation.

This was a very Merry Christmas for a little Jewish boy ;)