The Joys of Christmas

so, i sit here the day after christmas, watching the flyers play chicago (they are losing, boo) and wondering where in the world we are going to put all of max's christmas gifts. and we left a couple at chad's parents' house! seriously, i'm guessing that the kid racked up at least $300 or $400 worth of presents (we spent about $70 on his christmas gifts, including the stuff that went in his stocking). which is a bit ridiculous when you consider that he's only 11 months old. and he has a birthday in a few weeks, when he will receive even more gifts. the in-laws went a bit overboard (did i expect any less?), and to my annoyance, gave him a couple of things that i have already bought but was saving for max's birthday.

but anyway, i think max had a good first christmas. unfortunately, chad and i are both sick and have been since about tuesday. i think i have strep throat, and i'll probably pay a visit to the doctor tomorrow. so that part of christmas sucked. otherwise, it was good. we did our christmas morning thing here at home and then visited the families. max drank his formula when he woke up, then he opened his stocking and his two wrapped gifts from us (activity table and spin & spill cement truck). he opened the truck first and was so busy playing with it while it was still in the box that he didn't want to open the other present. when he did, he ripped off one section of paper and tried to play with the activity table through the hole he'd made. after presents, he ate breakfast, then we loaded up and drove to my aunt's house, where we also did stockings and presents and then ate lunch. max got loads of stuff, but they were reasonable gifts (three or four books, a little people dump truck, a tickle me elmo, a top, a few other small toys, a stuffed animal, two jackets, and a big ride-on toy), and his gifts fit easily into a large bag. and easily into my car.

after my family thing, we went over to chad's parents' house (they live about 15 min. from my aunt), where there were five enormous boxes, a giant gift bag, four or five smaller packages, and a (i am NOT exaggerating) 3 foot tall stocking. all for max. seriously, that stocking was considerably larger than max is. chad's mom asked me after thanksgiving to make her a list of stuff we wanted them to buy for max. so i made a list with 10 things on it, ranging in price from $10-$30. i told her he didn't need everything on the list and that the list was for christmas and his birthday. she's bought every single toy on the list plus more. holy crap. i told her what chad and i were getting for max and the big gift that my mom got him. but she still ended up buying things that were very similar to stuff he already has. and she got the exact same giant not legos (but like legos) that i got him for his birthday (which i told her i was getting him). which really annoys me. they also ended up buying max two more walk-behind toys (one of which turns into an activity table, which WE ALREADY GOT HIM), even though they already bought him one of those a few months ago. and a ride on truck. and a giant piano rocker thing (sort of like a rocking horse, but with a big plastic piano instead of a horse's head). i did say that max likes the little toy pianos and xylophones that they have at daycare and that they should get him one of those. but i didn't mean one that he sits and rocks on. i meant a little $10 one that he holds on his lap. he's already got two big rock/ride-on toys, and he's getting a bounce & spin zebra for his birthday, all of which the in-laws knew about beforehand. why even bother with a list?

those were the only things that really annoyed me. everything else was fine. they got him two sets of pj's, a jack-in-the-box, a set of wooden blocks, a see & say, two stuffed animals (a giant one and a smaller one), a big fisher-price laugh and learn teddy that teaches letters, numbers, shapes, etc (i really wanted the puppy, which teaches body parts, but that's ok), some christmas dishes, and two christmas cups. i might have forgotten something. all of that stuff would have been more than enough. but they went completely overboard. we couldn't fit everything in the car. so we left the ride-on toy and the lego-like blocks and maybe one of the walk-behind toys there. he can play with them when he visits.

the in-laws' neighbors also gave max a gift, which was nice of them. they got him two books and some clothes to grow into.

chad and i both still feel like complete crap, so most of max's christmas gifts (and all of ours) are still in bags and boxes. i put max's activity table together and took the cement truck out of the box, so he's been playing with those today. and also the little fire truck and squishy frogs from his stocking. and of course, all of his old toys. maybe tomorrow i'll get some more stuff out for him. we also really need to pack up the baby swing and exersaucer. :-( he is still well below the weight limit for the swing, but he no longer has the patience for it, and it's just taking up space in the living room. he is too big for the exersaucer now, though. drat his being tall for his age. he's actually been too big for the exersaucer for a few weeks, as he's about 30.5" tall now (but struggling to reach 22 lbs), and the exersaucer is only recommended for babies under 30" tall. it makes me a little sad, packing up these things that have been max's entertainment for so long. but we really need the space for new stuff. and i also need to invest in a baby fence to keep max out of the kitchen when i'm cooking and chad isn't home to distract him. i used to just put him in the exersaucer, but i can't really do that anymore. i could just move the playpen from our bedroom to the living room, but having the playpen in our room is very handy when i need to get dressed or blow dry my hair after chad has already left for work. for those who haven't been to our house, our living room and kitchen are completely open to each other (no wall in between), so baby gates won't do any good. we need something to corral max.

so i need to do some more baby shopping soon. max needs more baby snacks anyway. his favorites are wagon wheels and zwieback toast, and we're out of both of those. it's ok, though. we've got banana puffs and cheerios. and crackers. ugh. i so do not feel like going out shopping.