Talkin' Turkey

I had good intentions to blog while we were in Peoria this week, but that obviously didn't happen as I planned it. Hopefully you are all waiting with such anticipation for this post that you will be satisfied with whatever I write because the busy week has left me quite exhausted and I am not fully in control of my facilities, including - but definitely not limited to - the part of my brain in charge of syntax and grammar.

That aside, we had a great Thanksgiving holiday! We left for Peoria Tuesday morning-ish. It was around 10:30 by the time we finally packed everything up and hit the road. Alex slept some of the way, played some of the way, and whined the rest of the way. In his defense, he really only gets fussy in the car if he's hungry or if the sun is in his eyes. We have those little retractable screens on both windows that are supposed to keep the sun out, but if you ask me, those things belong on the list of "gimmicky baby crap that everyone says you have to have even though it really doesn't work". They are really only effective if you happen to be traveling north-northwest between 10:23 and 10:27am on a partly cloudy day in the latter half of June. Other than that, they are pretty useless. So when the sun came a'-shinin', we had to improvise. I usually try to put a blanket over his carseat, but he ends up yanking it off so he can put it in his mouth. So instead, I lent him my sunglasses. He looks a little like Paris Hilton, I think. Not his best look, but they seemed to do the trick...

We made it to my parents house by 7pm on Tuesday. A pretty much went straight to bed when we got there, so my family had to say quick hellos followed by quick goodnights. The next day was pretty chill though, so they had plenty of time to catch up on kisses and hugs.

Grandma and Grandpa got him a really cool gift for his first Thanksgiving - a kit to make customized photo stamps with his picture on them. He seemed to like the wrapping just as much as the present, but someday he will be impressed that his face was on a stamp.

My parents ended up hosting Thanksgiving this year, so we spent Wednesday afternoon scrambling around to plan menus and get groceries. I was hoping to get some good sleep that night so that I would be in tip-top condition to help out with the cooking in the morning, but Alex sorta threw a wrench in that plan. We had put his pack 'n play in the guest room with us the first night, but the three of us kept waking each other up. So Wednesday we decided to buy a monitor and put him in the adjacent computer room so we wouldn't be tempted to jump at his every whine and whimper. Nonetheless, he continued to wake up throughout the night and I continued to cater to his every whine and whimper.

Needless to say, I was less than well rested in the morning, but after a power nap and a strong cuppa joe, I was all business.

Our extended family was expected to come over around noon, so we had a little time to relax between basting and baking. And what do we do to relax? Play with Alex, of course!

Our guests started to arrive and Alex got passed around like a hot potato. He is such a good boy. He doesn't mind being tossed around and he is nice enough to humor anyone who makes a goofy face or silly noise at him by smiling and laughing at them. He was especially excited to see Poppo and Grandma Sally, who are my grandparents and Alex's great grandparents.
This might be one of my favorite pictures out of the hundreds that were taken this week. Alex loves his Poppo!!

Our Thanksgiving was a hit! The food was outstanding and most of the family stayed and played games until 1am. We had so much fun, in fact, that we decided to do Thanksgiving Round II and invited everyone back the next day for more games and food!

With so much commotion going on downstairs, we thought we'd put Alex to bed in my parents' room on the top floor of the house and that Tim and I would sleep up there while Mom and Dad slept in the guest room. After I finally got to bed at 1, Alex decided to get up at 2...and several times thereafter. It was another long and tiresome night, and I was happy for the morning to come...so I could get a nap. Luckily, there were a number of people willing to hang out with Alex so I could get some shuteye...

Deja vu! The extended family arrived again at noon on Friday and the festivities picked up where they left off. More games, more food.

Again, we partied until 1am. Everyone went home and we went to bed. Alex had been up twice before that since we put him in bed at 8. It isn't very often that we sleep in the same room as Alex, and I've realized that he tends to thrash around most of the night, flailing his arms and legs around, flipping back and forth. His eyes never open, but he reaches for things, pulls his paci in and out, wiggles around. I think that part of the problem is that he has been wetting through his diapers at night and he wakes up because his belly is soaking wet. It has been happening quite often lately, but I have hesitated to move him up to size 3 diapers because he's nowhere near 18 lbs. At this point, it is definitely worth trying the next size, even if they come up to his armpits.

Saturday, we had planned on having Aunt Rach take some pictures for our Christmas card and to get some family photos since the whole family was finally in one place at one time. I'm not even close to picking the one to use for the card, and I had planned on posting some on the blog but there are too many to choose from! Hmm, maybe by tomorrow I can narrow them down...