Jacob's First Christmas

Christmas this year was more of a long string of Christmases, rather than a single event. Our last few weeks has been filled with love, family, friends, relaxation, travel, and complete joy. Jacob loved (almost) every minute of it!

Our trip started in Portland, where we spent the night after a long flight. We got to spend the morning hanging out with our cousins, Amelia and Lucas, in our pajamas and then taking a fun bath. It is amazing how much each of the kids has grown since they were all together in August. Lucas is crawling at lightning speeds, Jacob is grabbing and eating everything in sight, and Amelia is talking not just in sentences, but in dissertations. It was such a blessing to see them all together.

From there, we traveled onward to Pasco to see Grandma and Grandpa and a boatload of aunts and uncles. Christmas at my parents' house is always an epic event, and the addition of a grandchild only upped the excitement. Jacob was spoiled and loved and covered in bows all week long. It was very sad leaving.

After visiting Pasco, we headed up north, stopping briefly in Yakima to visit Ada and Lacy and Andy, our long-lost friends. Ada and Jacob fell immediately in love.

We then arrived in Bellingham to see Nana and Papa, who were very excited to see Jacob and share all the rainy joys of Bellingham with him. We went out to visit Great-Grandma Metta and Al as well, and Jacob impressed all with his masterful scooting and smiling. That kid is such a charmer!

I should mention at this point that Jacob is also a dream baby to travel with. Despite planes, carseats, strange rooms and cribs, and lots of relatives wanting to love on him, he never lost his cool. Well, he did lose it a couple times after being in the car for 3 hours, but to be fair, so did I. He is an amazingly flexible and chilled out little guy.

The final leg of our trip was back to Portland for a grand Christmas explosion (and viewing of the Rose Bowl) with the cousins and Auntie Laura and Uncle Aaron. Nana and Papa came with us, and we also celebrated Papa's birthday all together the night before we flew out. Amelia and Lucas were so much fun to be with, and we were all very sad to have to leave when our trip was

finally over. We can't wait until we have a chance to hang out with them for a much longer time.

At last, we arrived home, only to be greeted by a ridiculously long cab line at JFK and sub-freezing temperatures. Jacob, red-eyed and jet-lagged, comported himself with the utmost in dignity and fell asleep under a pile of blankets for the cab ride home. What a boy!