xmas with the Lowes

Grandma Lowe (Nana) and Ron (Gumpa) came to town this past weekend to celebrate Xmas with Fay (and Fay's parents). We had a really great time and the feeling of xmas was enhanced by an enormous dumping of snow on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday we ventured out into the early snow to take Fay up to the Toys R Us in Times Square. Fay was amazed by the falling snow all around her (either that or her eyes were frozen open). And she loved Times Square. She kept pointing and grunting at all the lights. She liked Toys R Us a bit too...mostly the lighting fixtures and shiny things.



On Friday night the adults went out to dinner at Cookshop which was AMAZING. We all had nothing but good things to say about the food and the atmosphere was really festive for xmas. Fay spent the night sleeping. (at least until 4-5 am)

Actually, we attempted to switch Fay from two naps to one nap this weekend. On Friday Fay did not want to take her afternoon nap so we were able to put her to bed early (6pm) and she slept through to almost 6am. Since she was well rested with 12 hours of sleep, we were able to keep her up to 10am (normally she would take the first nap at 8am). She took a 2 hour nap and then stayed up until 6pm on Saturday night.

Everything seemed successful on Saturday and Sunday with the one nap schedule, but then last night I put her down at 6:45, hoping to move her back to a 7pm-7am routine and instead she woke up at 4am briefly and then 5am. She was exhausted but wouldn't sleep any longer, so today was a two nap day. We'll either fall back to the two nap routine now or alternate between one nap and two on different days. I read that this is a difficult transition.

I really just fear she will be crying out in the night and waking up at 5am when we are on vacation next week. So anything I can do to figure out her ideal sleeping schedule, I will do. Tonight I moved her bedtime back to 6:30.

...back to the weekend -- On Saturday we had brunch and opened presents at our apt. We got the tiniest little xmas tree for the occasion. It fits in a pot on the coffee table.

On Saturday afternoon we took a dare and attended a local theater's "act-a-long". This is where a small group of friends get together to draw acting parts to Its a Wonderful Life. Then they spontaneously put on a show with minimal props and no practice. We don't know the group really well -- we are patrons and friends of the theater while the majority of the gatherers were actors of the theater. So we didn't choose to take a part, but it was pretty fun to watch. I've actually never seen the movie, so it was a little challenging to follow along, but I managed to get the gist of it. The plot wasn't terribly complicated.

And that was it. Ryan and I took advantage of our out-of-towner-babysitters and went out to a movie on Saturday night. And then we said our goodbyes.

Now Ryan and I are preparing for our xmas trip to Jamaica. We leave on Dec 25th. We have booked a reservation at an all inclusive family resort in Runaway Bay. And the clincher that made us choose this particular resort is the inclusion of a "vacation nanny". I can't wait to see how that pans out. If I can actually read a book during the week I am on vacation I will have to give a big tip to our vacation nanny.

I also can't wait to see if Fay has warmed up to the idea of swimming and running her toes through the sand. She wasn't too keen on either last summer.