'Tis the season. I think it's only fitting that the whole holiday season begins with the day of Thanksgiving, for what are the holidays but days to give, as in gifts, kindness and love, and days to be thankful for all that you have. This year has been a tough one financially for many, including my own family. Although the effects of the subprime real estate market and the ultimate collapse of many financial institutions are still ricocheting throughout the economy, it is already apparent that these are truly the worst of times for my generation. And yet as my Father gave the Thanksgiving toast this year he reflected on all the blessings that we have been given...of course Eddie IV tops the list and makes us all forget about the woes. Eddie's smiles make us all smile, and he is on the cusp of laughing really hard - the other night as Daddy Eddie played with him he belted out a sound that we hadn't heard as of yet and we both cheered for it was officially his first laugh!
As for his first Thanksgiving, I must report that I was very very proud of his behavior. He seems to have inherited the Lauer social gene - that which evokes comfort in large social settings and compels one to constant activity, as in always wanting to be out socializing - I didn't get it though as I am more of a home body, so Eddie must have gotten it via his Grandpa. Anyway, he behaves very well in social settings as has been tested a few times before and now again at our cousin's, the Wennings, house for Thanksgiving and the next day at our friend Mary's house. He hardly fussed at all and played very nicely with his cousin Sophia. He even slept for an hour during dinner, which we were very pleased with because it was his first time sleeping at someone else's house other than ours and Nani's. Another behavior that was very apparent over the weekend was how intensely focused and fixated he plays - something which we all agree he gets from me. He played with Sophia's activity mat for almost an hour, and at Nani's he sat in a bouncy seat that my friend Kim gave us which has these red, yellow and blue toys on it very contently playing while we went through all the Christmas ornaments and decorations and decided which ones to take for our own home.
The next few weeks will go by fast and Christmas will be here before we know it. This is the first year in a long long time though that I truly feel the holiday spirit. It is hard not to celebrate even the little things when you have a baby - his first snowfall (happened here in Chicago yesterday), baking cookies and putting up the Christmas tree. Even listening to Christmas music suddenly feels festive and relaxing and not annoying and trite...how does that happen? Not sure, but it must be yet another beautiful thing about having a baby.
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