A very merry Christmas

Just before the holidays, Jack started to babble. He had been groaning and grunting for a while, but something clicked in his head, and the boy figured out that if he moved his lips and tongue, new sounds would result. Apparently, Jack knew he was about to embark on a social whirlwind of a Christmas trip to Ohio, and he wanted to communicate his thoughts to all the family members he'd be seeing.

Oh, and did I mention that he is super-smiley, too? Between the chattiness and big grins, this kid was a lot of fun over the holiday.

Our trip started in Vermilion and Lorain-- west of Cleveland-- with Jen's family. Grandma Debbie and Aunt Niki took Jack to see Santa (see previous post) and I'd say that Santa got this boy everything he could possibly want.

Thanks to a pair of parties, Jack got to see a bunch of family members, including his cousin Alexandria who already had her passport and was on her way to London! Jack isn't a jet-setter just yet, but he is thinking about some summer travel that will put him in his first airplane.

On Christmas Eve, we set off around 8:30p for Centerville-- south of Dayton-- to see my family. Jack was worn out from all the parties and, since it was his bedtime anyway, slept the entire 200 miles. We took advantage of this rare in-car sleepytime and blitzed straight through without a stop.

Just like up north, there was a long parade of people for Jack to see in Dayton. Jack turned 6 months old on Dec. 26th, and it turns out this was a great age for him to be during the holidays. Not only was he very verbal and smiley, he also engaged people by looking them in the eye.

The long ride home was a small price to pay for a memorable first Christmas. Be sure to click the album below for pictures.

Christmas 07